I love donkeys, but they are not, to me, beautiful. Simon is not a class donkey, or particularly beautiful animal, he is all sway-backed and beat up and grumpy.  What is beautiful about Simon is his spirit, his will to live, his forgiving nature, his love of children, his connection to me and to Maria. Simon does not see himself as a victim, is not angry at his neglectors, does not live much in the past. It is spirit that is beautiful, I think, his soul.