He is altogether a different type, but quite as handsome
in his way."
"Then you would whitewash Titania in 'Midsummer Night's Dream?'"
She laughed "Well, Titania might have done worse. But how is it that
the donkey has come to be the symbol of stupidity?"
"Perhaps because of his want of spirit, and his perversity."
"No, I believe it is something else. People found a great, strong
animal that could, if it liked, be just as difficult to manage, and
resist just as well as a horse, and yet was quite content with the
worst of food, required neither stable nor grooming, worked till it
dropped, and never bit or kicked. So they said, an animal that is
strong enough to hurt us, and yet puts up with any kind of
treatment, must necessarily be deadly stupid. That is how it was.
People cannot believe that one may be good-tempered and
uncomplaining and yet have any brains. With them to be wicked and
violent and pretentious is to be clever. If the donkey would refuse
to eat anything but oats and barley, and turned and rent anybody who
annoyed him in the slightest degree, you would see how people would
immediately have the highest respect for his intellect."
"You seem to have a low opinion of your fellow-creatures, madame?"
"It is their own fault then," she replied, gazing through the window
into the courtyard.
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