How much suffering could be avoided if wisdom guided our choices? This is the reflection that writer Odilio Xavier Júnior proposes in The Little Donkey, the Old Scorpion, and the Dangers of the Caatinga, a fable that blends Christian teachings with elements of backlands culture to narrate the journey of a young donkey in search of meaning and faith. Through symbolic characters—such as a wise scorpion who renounces its own violence—the work guides the reader through themes of friendship, overcoming, and spiritual transformation, showing that true human thirst can only be quenched by wisdom and the Divine Word.
Your fable begins with a profound question: “How much suffering could be avoided if wisdom guided our choices?” — When did this reflection become part of your own life path?
There comes a point in life when we start to look back and reflect on our decisions, the hurts we’ve suffered, the pain we’ve undoubtedly caused… When I got married (even more so after having children), I realized that my actions profoundly affected my family’s lives. I realized that to have a good life, I needed better tools than my instincts. It wasn’t easy to see that I considered myself intelligent, but my choices proved just the opposite.
The old scorpion chooses to pull out its own stinger and renounce violence. Where did this powerful metaphor for transformation and surrender come from?
This idea stemmed from the principle that we should treat others the way we would like to be treated. If more people followed this “golden rule,” the world would certainly be a much better place! Jesus of Nazareth left us this teaching. Note that I’m not talking about religion… I’m talking about a man who could have organized an insurgency against the Roman Empire, but who, by not doing so and not resorting to violence, is remembered to this day.
The donkey searches for water, but ends up finding something much greater: meaning and faith. In your view, what is the most urgent “thirst” humanity needs to quench today?
It’s easy to see that humanity is sick. It seems like people would like to swipe a finger and make everyone who disagrees with them disappear from the universe… It’s brutal!! But the problem isn’t the other: the problem is the evil within us all. The enemy isn’t the other: the enemy is the evil manifested within us! This “thirst” can only be quenched by relating to God. Without anything that transcends us, we try to satisfy our needs with pride and selfishness. This will certainly cause pain.
The friendship between the donkey and the scorpion is the heart of the story. How does this relationship between innocence and wisdom reflect the relationship between God and humanity?
The scorpion imparts to the donkey passages of ancient wisdom found in the Bible. Just as the donkey suffers in the caatinga because he doesn’t know the path to water, many of us suffer because we don’t know the path that leads to a happy life. In the Christian faith, we believe that God sent us Jesus, showing us the path to a life with more meaning, more forgiveness, more love.
The Caatinga is a landscape full of contrasts—arid and beautiful, harsh and teeming with life. Why did you choose this setting as the setting for your characters’ spiritual journey?
In all our lives, beauty and pain intertwine. Even when a tear falls, sometimes it’s good to feel it running down your cheek. There’s beauty even in a cactus full of thorns. I find these contrasts beautiful. Such is our brief existence, such is the caatinga. I think that’s why I chose this biome as the setting for “The Little Donkey, the Old Scorpion, and the Dangers of the Caatinga.”
You had a long and intense career as a military pilot before turning to writing. What lessons from that experience helped you develop the sensitivity and discipline present in the book?
There’s a lot of suffering in a military career. I had a commander (Colonel Todesco) who once shouted, “Weak is he who imagines himself weak!” That had a profound impact on me, because I was so thin that a classmate would tease me about never knowing whether I was facing forward or sideways. Many years later, I discovered that the commander’s words had biblical basis, as the book of Joel says, “Let the weak say, ‘I am strong!'” After many years, I learned that meditating on the Bible equips us to win any war.
Your work invites faith, but also reflection on choices and self-knowledge. How do you believe spirituality can dialogue with reason and science today?
I see no reason to pit faith against science. You and I exist, as do the stars and galaxies. Science seeks to uncover truths that are already there but still hidden. In the Christian faith, we believe that Jesus is the Truth that has already been revealed to us. By faith, we believe that God created all things. Science follows behind (not because it is antagonistic to faith), but because it attempts to explain something that came before it and is much greater: everything that exists.
If you could give one piece of advice from the “old scorpion” to anyone who is facing a personal desert right now, what would it be?
Sometimes we think we suffer because we don’t know something. It’s a valid point. But much of our suffering comes from things we think we know but are wrong about. See, if you misplace some pieces of a puzzle, you’ll reach a dead end where nothing fits. The problem isn’t the remaining pieces. The problem lies in the pieces you put together incorrectly. If you’ve ignored what Jesus taught humanity up until now, give it a chance! On the other hand, if you’re a Christian, take a sincere look at your actions and see if you practice what He taught.
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