My Child is Dead and You Laugh?

This was probably our favorite of the stories we learned in class, partially because it very well characterizes the unfortunate fate of donkeys in Ethiopian stories. My question is, what is the moral of the story? Record your answers as a comment to the blog.

 

One day, the hyena’s child died and word quickly spread throughout the countryside of the coming “lekso” (an Ethiopian funeral that lasts for many days as family and friends come to grieve together). So all the animals gathered together and at the same time, arrived at the door of the hyena’s cave. The donkey arrived first but stood at the threshold, fearfully whispering to all the other animals who were filing into the cave, “Be careful, hyenas are not trustworthy.” When everyone had entered the cave, the donkey slipped in but stayed in the shadows right near the door. Sometime later, the hyena father of the deceased looked up and said “Who is that standing over by the door? My eyes are covered with tears so I cannot see well.” The donkey said, “it is me, donkey,” to which the hyena responded “please come and give me a kiss to comfort me after my child has died.” Fearfully (as hyenas and donkeys are not friends), yet out of respect for the dead, the donkey approached the hyena. As the donkey was kissing him, the hyena bit off the donkey’s upper lip. Startled, the donkey jumped back and looked around the room, at which point the hyena angrily remarked “My child is dead and you laugh?” (if this doesn’t make sense, picture a donkey without an upper lip). Upon hearing of this great disrespect, the donkey was immediately attacked and eaten by the hyena family and other guests at the lekso. The End.

 

Now it’s your turn. What’s the moral of the story?