But as the day wore on, he became weary, faint, and hungry. The matter
of food and shelter became a question of serious alarm, and how to
obtain them was a problem too great for his little donkey brain to
solve. He now remembered that he had never had to trouble himself with
all this before, all the needs and comforts of life having been provided
for him without thought or care on his part.

The land over which he was travelling was quite poor, and only afforded
a few little stunted thistles, which seemed to consist more of prickers
than anything else, which pierced his tender little nose, and made it
bleed. He saw plenty of oats and other grains, as well as nice
vegetables, growing in fields, but so well guarded by high fences that
he could not hope to get at them. Many times, when hunger and fatigue
had subdued his pride, would he have returned home; but he had wandered
so far that he had not the least idea which way he had come. To add to
his distress, he saw the sun was fast declining. Already he felt the
chills of evening. But there was no use bemoaning his fate, and he must
make the best of it.

At length, too weary to travel farther, he was forced to lie down to
rest, and selected for the purpose an unfenced overgrown piece of ground
of considerable extent. Here, as he lay among the weeds, nothing was
visible of him above their tops but his two ears, which might easily
have been taken for two stakes, or the roots of an upturned stump. As he
lay shivering in the damp grass, he felt anything but comfortable. The
sun went down, the moon arose and shed a cold light over the face of
nature, which made him feel lonely indeed.

Suddenly there appeared above the grass several other pairs of ears,
bobbing about, quite like his own. The sight thrilled him with something
akin to pleasure, for he asked himself, "To whom can such ears belong
but to little donkeys? and if young donkeys are around, they must have
mothers, or a mother, near by, who, no doubt, would be very glad to
adopt such a fine specimen of the race as I." The reader has already
seen that he was a conceited little donkey.

So saying, he arose quickly to his feet; the others stood up also,
though not as he did on their four feet, but on their hind-legs--that is
to say, they stood up on their haunches--and looked at him in blank
amazement; but as he approached them they bounded away so fast that it
was useless to try to overtake them. When he stood still,