Hoca is on his way to the village. His son is riding the donkey and Hoca is walking. Passerbys object: “Poor old man has to walk while the lad goes on the donkey. For shame! What’s the world coming to?”

Overhearing this, Hoca tells his son to get down and he mounts the donkey. Further ahead, some people sitting by the road complain:

“Look at that big hunk of a man. He has no shame. He is riding the donkey and making that poor boy walk. People these days have no pity.”

This time, Hoca asks his son to jump on the donkey. As the donkey is trudging on with the two riders, some villagers say to each other:

“For goodness sake! Two men are riding that poor donkey. How cruel! The animal is a bag of bones, anyway. They’re going to break its back.”

When Hoca hears this, he dismounts and tells his son to get down. They go on their way, walking behind the donkey. As they approach the village, some people on the road make fun of them:

“Look at those stupid fools. Their donkey is trotting and those two are trudging along. They got no brains.”

When he hears this last comment, Hoca says to his son:

“Did you hear that? It’s best to go your own way. No matter what you do, people won’t be satisfied. You can’t close anybody’s mouth tight like a bag.”

translated by Talat Halman