The Trader and the Donkey

Once upon a time, a hardworking donkey helped a trader carry heavy sacks of salt from the town to his home. Every day, they took the same long path. The load was heavy, but the donkey carried it without a fuss.

One afternoon, as they crossed a shallow river on their way home, the donkey slipped! He fell into the water, and the sacks of salt got soaked. The salt quickly dissolved, and when the donkey stood up, his load felt much lighter.

"Oh! This feels so much better!" the donkey thought, shaking off the water.

When they reached home, the trader saw the wet, empty sacks and muttered, “So, that’s what happened.” Though he wasn’t happy, he didn’t say anything.

The next day, as they reached the river again, the donkey remembered how easy the journey had been the day before. "If I fall again, my load will be lighter!" he thought. With a little grin, he let himself fall into the water on purpose.

Just like before, the salt disappeared, and his load became light again.

"This is much easier!" the donkey thought, feeling proud of his clever trick.

But the trader had been watching. He sighed and shook his head. "I see what you're up to," he thought. "Let’s see if you try that again tomorrow."

The next morning, before leaving town, the trader came up with a plan. Instead of filling the sacks with salt, he packed them with soft, fluffy cotton.

As they reached the river, the donkey, feeling even smarter than before, let himself fall in again.

But this time, something was different. The cotton soaked up the water and became very heavy. When the donkey stood up, his load was now twice as heavy as before!

"Oh no! What happened?" he cried, struggling to walk. His legs shook under the weight.

The trader patted the donkey’s back and smiled. "Now you've learned your lesson, my friend. Tricks don’t always work the way you expect."

The donkey had no choice but to carry the heavy load all the way home. Step by step, he regretted trying to be tricky. After that day, he stopped falling into the river on purpose and carried his load honestly.