00:00Once upon a time, in a quiet little village, lived a merchant and his trusty donkey.
00:07Their daily routine was quite simple.
00:11The merchant would load sacks of salt onto the donkey's back,
00:15and together they would journey to a neighboring village to sell their goods.
00:20Their path took them through a lush forest and across a winding river.
00:25Now, this donkey was a bit of a thinker.
00:28Every single day, as he plodded along with the heavy load, he would ponder,
00:35Oh, this is tiring.
00:37Isn't there some clever way to make this job easier?
00:41He dreamt of lighter loads and less work.
00:44One sunny morning, just like any other,
00:48the merchant secured the sacks of salt onto the donkey's back, and off they went.
00:54They navigated the shady forest and soon arrived at the bank of the river.
01:00As they started to cross, the donkey's foot slipped and splashed.
01:06He tumbled right into the cool water.
01:08The merchant rushed to help him up.
01:11As the donkey got back on his feet, something magical seemed to have happened.
01:17The sacks felt so much lighter.
01:20The merchant, however, looked worried.
01:23He picked up a sack and realized most of the salt had dissolved in the river.
01:28The donkey, on the other hand, was overjoyed.
01:32What a brilliant discovery!
01:35He thought, this is the perfect way to lighten my load.
01:39He couldn't wait to try it again.
01:41The very next day, the merchant loaded up the salt, and they set off.
01:48When they reached the river, the donkey, full of confidence, deliberately stumbled and fell into the water.
01:56Just as he'd hoped, the salt washed away, and the sacks became wonderfully light.
02:03He trotted the rest of the way with a happy spring in his step.
02:08This became his new routine.
02:10For several days, he repeated his little trick, feeling quite proud of his cleverness.
02:17But the merchant was not happy at all.
02:20He was losing money every day as his salt disappeared into the river.
02:25He started to wonder,
02:27Why does my donkey keep falling in the exact same spot every single day?
02:32It didn't take long for him to figure it out.
02:35Aha! He thought, that cheeky donkey is doing this on purpose to avoid work.
02:43The merchant decided it was time to teach his lazy companion a lesson.
02:48The next morning, the donkey trotted happily towards the merchant, ready for another day of his clever trick.
02:57He noticed the sacks looked the same as always.
03:00Little did he know, today's load wasn't salt.
03:04The merchant had filled the sacks with sand.
03:07They walked through the forest and arrived at the river.
03:11As planned, the donkey took a dramatic tumble into the water.
03:16He lay there for a moment, expecting the familiar feeling of the load becoming lighter.
03:22The merchant pulled him up and placed the sacks back on his back.
03:27But this time, something was terribly wrong.
03:31The sacks were incredibly heavy, far heavier than before.
03:36The wet sand had soaked up the water and weighed a ton.
03:40The donkey struggled to stand under the immense weight.
03:43The merchant couldn't help but chuckle.
03:46What did you think, my friend?
03:48He said, did you really believe I wouldn't notice your little scheme?
03:53You tried to trick me, so I played a little trick of my own.
03:58The donkey felt a deep sense of shame.
04:02He understood his mistake.
04:04He had let his laziness get the better of him,
04:08and now he was paying the price with an even heavier burden.
04:12From that day on, the donkey learned his lesson and carried his load without any more tricks.
04:19It is a good reminder that trying to avoid our responsibilities often leads to bigger problems down the road.
04:29If you enjoyed this story, don't forget to like, share, and subscribe for more.
04:35See you next time!
