The Donkey's Relative

Mulla was beating his donkey on the side of the road because it was misbehaving. A passerby saw this and scolded him, "Hey! Why are you beating that poor dumb animal?" Mulla stopped, looked at the man, and said, "Excuse me, I didn't realize he was a relative of yours. If I had known, I wouldn't have been so disrespectful!"