原文：

A donkey, heavily loaded down, panted to a horse that was lightly laden :"Can you help me carry some of my load ? It is nothing for you but is a big relief for me ."

"Why should I do that for you ? I am happy with my light load," said the horse, scowlingly. Soon after, the donkey died of exhaustion. The master transferred everything from the back of the donkey onto the horse, which now deeply regretted its action.

An inflated ego blinds us to the fact that we are all living together on the same boat. The fortunes of other affects our well-being. The misfortune of others does not bring us happiness. On the contrary, helping others is in fact, helping ourselves.

譯文：

一頭馱著沉重貨物的驢，氣喘吁吁地請求只馱了一點貨物的馬：“幫我馱點東西吧。對你來說，這不算什么；可對我來說，卻可以減輕不少負擔。”

馬不高興地回答：“你憑什么讓我幫你馱東西，我樂得輕松呢。” 不久，驢累死了。主人將驢背上的所有貨物全部加在馬背上，馬懊悔不已。

膨脹的自我使我們忽略了一個基本事實，那就是：我們同在生活這條大船上，別人的好壞與我們休戚相關。別人的不幸不能給我們帶來快樂，相反，在幫助別人的時候，其實也是在幫助我們自己。