The Donkey's Head in the Vineyard

A villager's donkey died, so he stuck its head up high on a vine in his garden. A well-traveled old man passed by and, smiling, said this to the keeper of the field: Don't imagine, my son, that this donkey will keep the evil eye away from your crops. It couldn't keep a stick off its own head and ears, and so it died helpless and wounded. What can a doctor do for someone's pain when that poor soul is bound to die of it anyway?