'"Thank you," replied the hare, balancing the donkey on her back
as well as she was able, and though the legs trailed along the
ground she managed to drag it to an open space some distance off,
where she made a fire and roasted it. As soon as it was cooked
the hare took out the heart and had just finished eating it when
the lion, who was tired of waiting, came up.

'"I am hungry," said he. "Bring me the creature's heart; it is
just what I want for supper."

'"But there is no heart," answered the hare, looking up at the
lion with a puzzled face.

'"What nonsense!" said the lion. "As if every beast had not got a
heart. What do you mean?"

'"This is a washerman's donkey," replied the hare gravely.

'"Well, and suppose it is?"

'"Oh, fie!" exclaimed the hare. "You, a lion and a grown-up
person, and ask questions like that. If the donkey had had a
heart would she be here now? The first time she came she knew you
were trying to kill her, and ran away. Yet she came back a second
time. Well, if she had had a heart would she have come back a
second time? Now would she?"

'And the lion answered slowly, "No, she would not."