The saying goes as stubborn as a donkey.
However, when Basjan was given the opportunity to turn to religion for a few minutes, he did not disappoint and (pardon the mixed metaphor), took to it like a duck to water.
On a Sunday the priest of a church in the small Free State town of Rosendal’s message to his flock was all about humbleness. The theme was “on the back of a donkey”.
He asked restaurant owner and former SABC journalist Liela Magnus if her two donkeys, Oscar and Basjan, could make a turn past the pulpit and around the front of the church, just so that the message could have a literal meaning for the congregation.
Magnus had said farewell to city life at the end of last year and bought the restaurant, Benjamin’s, in the picturesque eastern Free State town. But along with the restaurant, she inherited Basjan and Oscar, well known faces in the town.
Magnus loved her four-footed friends from the start but it has been a difficult relationship at times, as the donkeys have ideas of their own.
While they may be humble, they are as stubborn as could be, Magnus said.
She is often seen on the dirt roads in the main street of town searching for her donkeys. While they are kept enclosed at night, they often break out and disappear for hours.
But Magnus always manages to find and bring them back to their camp, following a day’s grazing around the local town hall and adjacent venues.
But, as Magnus explains, they usually have to be enticed with a carrot which she holds in front of their noses.
So, when the dominee asked her if her donkeys would participate in his sermon, Magnus immediately agreed, although she had some reservations.
“The only guarantee with a donkey is that there are no guarantees,” Magnus said.
At the end of the day, the donkeys pitched up for church although Basjan was the only one who did his duty, while Oscar grazed the church lawn.
Magnus, however, said things did not go as smoothly at first.
“The previous evening the two broke out of their camp again and I had to search for them again. To make matters worse, they had rolled in the mud.”
But Magnus did not give up on her efforts to get her furry friends church-ready. Giving them a quick early bath before the start of the sermon, she had them shining again.
The road to the church was long, as Oscar had earlier broken his halter and Magnus could only lead Basjan towards the church. She hoped that Oscar would follow, as Basjan, the shy one, needed his brother at his side.
Magnus said she had some difficult moments outside the church, waiting for the dominee to open the door for them when it was time, as Basjan became fed-up with grazing the church lawn.
“But when the door opened, Basjan walked in like a show horse. He looked at the congregation as he made his strides around the front of the church, amid the clapping of hands by the flock. He gave them one last look before he exited, while his brother waited outside.”
Magnus said she was so proud of her “boys”, who truly rose to the occasion.
Pretoria News