A Donkey and Its Load of Salt
Once there was a man. He had a donkey. The donkey carried loads of salt to the city. Thus the man earned his bread. He was happy with his lot and passed life peacefully.
One day the donkey was carrying a load of salt as usual. The donkey had to cross through a stream in the way. By chance the animal slipped in the middle of the stream and the load of salt fell into the water. It took some time to help the donkey to take out the load of salt and load it again on its back. The master had to face much difficulty and a good quantity of salt dissolved in the process which was a loss to him. To the surprise of the beast the load he was carrying has lightened considerably. He was very happy. So the other day also, while crossing the stream the donkey purposely slipped in the stream so that his load would be lightened. Now it became a daily routine with the animal to repeat the process on one pretext or other. He continued to lighten his bags of salt by his cleverness. The master suffered heavy losses. At last he thought a trick to teach the cunning donkey a lesson and save himself from the loss.
The other day he purchased a few bales of cotton. He loaded them on the back of the donkey. The donkey was happy as usual to lighten his burden by falling down in the water of the stream. He slipped in the water and the bales of cotton dipped in water for a long time. The master purposely remained aloof and after the animal lifted himself with the load he was surprised that it was very heavy than before. The cotton had absorbed lot of water and got heavy instead of lightening. The master lashed the animal heavily to take him to his destination. Thus the donkey learnt a lesson and stopped his trick hence forth.
Moral : Cleverness does not pay always.
