Page 164 - Communication Processes Volume 3 Communication Culture and Confrontation

The Donkey 139

gives grounds to the assumption of the narrative, and conversely leads
us to challenge its validity and assume a counter ground.
The second issue is the fact of the ternary structuring of power
conflicts. This point was stressed in the thematic interpretation of the
previous narrative. The present text brings again our attention to this
anthropologically significant fact. Shifts in power relation happen
through the play of a third agent who is no party to the conflict op-
posing the two main contenders, but easily accepts any instrumental
role on the order or request of one or the other party. This suggests a
tripartite model for the analysis of power processes, with specifically
distinct attributes to be recognized to each party.
The third issue is sociological. The semantic structure of the narra-
tive incorporates and reflects social, economic and political processes
specific to the historical contexts in which the narrative appeared as
act of speech addressed to audiences. While these processes cannot be
documented in the past, the discursive structure points to our present
history: Which socio-cultural configurations nowadays similarly hide
behind the acceptance of an hegemonic and hierarchic overall dispensa-
tion? Which community feuds hide behind conflicts of deities? Which
socio-political games hide behind ternary conflicts?

The Donkey is a Hidden Form of God (Vdr-24)

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There was a kumbhar, a potter, who had a donkey. The donkey kept on
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insisting that it wanted the king’s daughter as his wife. The kumbhar
thought that if the king ever came to know about the obstinacy of the
donkey, he would surely kill him, the potter. As a consequence, he
decided to leave the town.
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But as there was only one kumbhar in the town I, it was ordered by
royal decree that he may not leave. He was called to the palace, and
the king asked him his reasons for wanting to leave town.
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The kumbhar then told the whole story, to which the king responded:
‘If your donkey builds a city of brass and copper in one night, then I
will give my daughter to him.’
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The kumbhar told the donkey what the king had said, and the
donkey erected a city of brass and copper in one night. The king gave
his daughter in marriage to the donkey and built a palace for them in
the forest.