The Ass and his burdens-Story

The Ass and his burdens

Once there was a merchant who deals in different goods which he bought from the nearby town. He usually made those things carried by his ass.
One day the merchant bought a quantity of salt and loaded up the Ass as much as he could bear. While they were crossing a stream on their way home, the ass stumbled and fell into the water. At this the salt in the sack got completely wetted and much of it melted and drained away.
When the man got him on his feet again, the Ass found the load comparatively light as a part of the salt was already gone away. However, the ass gladly finished the rest journey. The merchant had to bear a great loss in that trip.
Next week, the merchant went to the town for another load of salt. On the return journey, they were to cross the same stream through the same point. This time the merchant was more cautious so that he could avoid the same hazard. But the ass also remembered how the previous accident helped him minimizing the load. So he intentionally let himself fall into the water, and again got rid of most of his burden.
The merchant was stuck with doubt. But soon he could detect the trick by the ass. He planned to teach the ass a good lesson. Accordingly, this time, he bought a few sacks of cotton from the town and loaded them on the back of the Ass.
When they came to the stream, the Ass again lay down into water. But this time the cottons soaked up huge quantity of water which made them much heavier than they were. When he got up on his legs, he had a bigger and heavier burden to carry than ever.
The wretched ass had to drag himself homeward under a load many times heavier than before.