--- title: Shrek's Donkey: real donkeys and mules — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Shrek's Donkey: real donkeys and mules», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: In Shrek, Donkey never stops talking, digs his hooves in when he is scared, begs for waffles and carries Shrek and Fiona on his bac --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Shrek's Donkey: real donkeys and mules # Shrek's Donkey: real donkeys and mules Lesson 145 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 13 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/0/) — In Shrek, Donkey never stops talking, digs his hooves in when he is scared, begs for waffles and carries Shrek and Fiona on his back. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/1/) — Real donkeys are mostly quiet, but their bray is so loud it carries about three kilometres, because wild donkeys live spread out across dry, rocky lands and need to keep in touch. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/2/) — The famous «stubbornness» is really caution: on a rocky desert path, running blindly could mean a fall, so a donkey stops and thinks where a horse would bolt. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/3/) — Picture a donkey sanctuary in a rainy country: donkeys crowded in a shed because their desert coats are not waterproof, two best friends grooming each other, and one rolling happily in its favourite dusty patch. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/4/) — Real donkeys are fairly quiet, but a bray can be heard about three kilometres away; the «hee» is breathed in and the «haw» breathed out. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/5/) — Donkeys are not really stubborn: when something seems dangerous they stop to check instead of running, which kept wild donkeys safe on rocky ground. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/6/) — Donkeys' very long ears catch far-off calls and give off heat in hot deserts, and each ear can turn on its own. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/7/) — Donkey coats are not waterproof like horses' coats, so donkeys need shelter from the rain. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/8/) — Donkeys form strong friendships and can become very upset if their friend is taken away. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/9/) — Some farmers keep donkeys to guard sheep and goats, because donkeys dislike dogs and foxes and may chase or kick them away, though not every donkey does. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/10/) — Donkeys often live 30 to 40 years and some reach 50, longer than most horses. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/13/) — Donkeys love to roll in dust, which scratches itches, cleans the coat and keeps off flies. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/145-shrek-s-donkey-real-donkeys-and-mules/14/) — Donkeys were tamed in north-east Africa about 7,000 years ago, and tens of millions still carry water, crops and firewood today. - ← previous: [Babe: real pigs, sheep and sheepdogs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/144-babe-real-pigs-sheep-and-sheepdogs/) - next →: [Shrek's dragon: real «dragons» and lizards, and why nothing breathes fire](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/146-shrek-s-dragon-real-dragons-and-lizards/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)