'NEDDY.'

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XVIII, Issue XXIV, 12 June 1897, Page 751

'NEDDY.'

(BY MARY E. VANDYNE.) Tell me when and where and how donkeys ever won the reputation they bear of being perverse, stupid, illtempered animals. Certainly there never was a case in which a poor creature had his character taken away from him with less reason. There really is not in all the world a more patient, hard-working, and I think I may almost say, intellectual, creature than Neddy. Wait until you travel in the southern portions of our great West, or in some of the warm countries of Europe, and see the part Neddy plays. Why, he is a saddle-horse, water-carrier, vegetable market, house-dog—anything, everything, that requires patience, endurance, and good faith. I never shall forget the wonderful donkeys I saw in and about the city of Naples, in Italy. We wanted to climb a mountain, and Neddy carried us on his back.

We wanted water, and he brought us it in kegs hanging at his sides. We wanted fresh vegetables, and Neddy brought them in such heaps and profusion that nothing was seen of him amid the load but a nose and four legs. When we slept at night, it was his knowing bray that informed us when thieves were near. In that part of the world Neddy is scarcely more than a pet and a playfellow. But he is a most popular one. and I fancy that if the boys who have the good fortune to own a donkey were asked which of their possessions they would be willing to part with, their donkey would be the last on the list. When a boy has a good donkey, and a donkey a good master, there is no couple of people or things in the whole world that can have a better time. But a great deal depends on the treatment accorded to Neddy by his young master. That wonderful old woman, Mother Goose, I think, found out the secret first, for, as you all remember, she says : It 1 had a donkey that wouldn’t go. Do you think I'd whip him 1 Oh. no. no. I’d give him some hay. and say. Gee, haw, whoa. Get along, donkey, why don t you go .’’ This is the way to manage Neddy, for, as I have already told you, in spite of the bad reputation some stupid people have given him, he is very intelligent. If you doubt it, let me telljyou the prompt manner in which one of his kind resented what he thought improper treatment. Master Dick, who owned him, lent Neddy to a friend, who thought fit to manage him, or rather to try to do so, with a switch. Neddy felt the blow. He looked round, considered the matter for a moment, then — Well, Neddy’s heels didn’t quite kick the moon out of the sky, and fortunately the great puddle out of which we had to fish his would-be rider wasn’t deep enough to drown any body.

On another occasion two warm friends started for the woods one summer afternoon. Night fell, and they did not return until, heart-sick and anxious, a party started in search of them. Finally, after going a considerable distance, they heard the most mournful and long-re-peated braying. At regular intervals it sounded harsh, prolonged, and dismal. Rushing to the spot, there stood Neddy, one eye fixed on his young master lying flat on the ground with a broken leg. In the only language he knew he told the story of his master’s mishap as far as his voice would reach. He could easily have used his four sound legs and trotted home. That was not his idea of duty. He stood still and called tor help until help came. Never fancy that Neddy is stupid or obstinate or ugly. Because he can not tell you just all he knows, you must not think he does not know anything. And when you are inclined to laugh at his big ears, funny tail, and unmusical voice, stop and ask yourself what he thinks of a curious creature with only two legs, no ears to speak of, and the merest mite of a nose, who is always wanting to get on his back, drive him here and there, and make him do things he doesn’t like and doesn’t see the least sense in.