English Original
An old man, a boy, and a donkey were traveling to town. Initially, the boy rode the donkey while the old man walked. They passed some people who criticized this, saying it was a shame for the old man to walk.
The man and boy, thinking the critics might be right, swapped places. Soon, others criticized them, saying it was a shame for the man to make the small boy walk.
So, they both decided to walk. Then, they met more people who thought it was foolish to walk when they had a donkey to ride. Convinced again, they both rode the donkey.
Later, another group criticized them for overloading the poor animal. In an attempt to please everyone, the old man and the boy decided to carry the donkey.
As they crossed a bridge, they lost their grip, and the donkey fell into the river and drowned.
The moral of the story is: If you try to please everyone, you will eventually lose your ass.
中文翻译
一位老人、一个男孩和一头驴正赶往镇上。起初，男孩骑着驴，老人步行。他们遇到一些人，批评说让老人走路是可耻的。
老人和男孩觉得批评者或许有道理，便交换了位置。不久，又有人批评他们，说让这么小的男孩走路，老人真不害臊。
于是，他们决定两人都走路。接着，他们遇到更多人，认为有驴不骑却走路是愚蠢的。他们再次被说服，两人都骑上了驴。
之后，另一群人批评他们给这可怜的小动物施加了过重的负担。为了取悦所有人，老人和男孩决定抬着驴走。
过桥时，他们没抓稳，驴掉进河里淹死了。
这个故事的寓意是：如果你试图取悦所有人，最终你会失去你的驴子（注：英文中“ass”有“驴”和“屁股”的双关含义，此处取本意）。