One there lived a poor old man who had a donkey.It was the only thing he had. When people wanted anything carried,they asked the old man to bring his donkey.He would put the things onto its back and the donkey would carry them.The old man earned just enough to keep him alive. He had to feed himself and he had to feed his donkey as well.One day,the old man heard of a viilege by the sea,not too far away. The villegers made salt from sea water.They dug wide,shallow beds on the land. (These are called salt pans.) Then they flooded the pans with salty sea water. The hot sunshine dried up all the water. The salt was left in the pans. The villegers cllected the salt and sold it. And because there was lots of salt, it was cheap.'Ah!' thought the old man. 'The salt in the city shops is not cheap.If I bring the salt from the seaside,I can sell it and earn a lot of money.'So the old man began to save his money. When he had enough,he took his donkey to the villege by the sea. He bought two large sacks of salt and put them onto the donkey.Then he set off for the city.One the way, the man and his donkey had to cross a shallow stream.The donkey slipped and fell in the stream.'Oh dear!' cried the old man. He tried to pull the sacks of salt out of the water.Most of the salt was washed away.The old man was sad.But the donkey had a twinkle in its eye!It was difficult to tell.but it looked as if the donkey was smiling.'Thus is much better,'said the donkey, pleased that the sacks were much lighter.'I must remember this little trick,' said the donkey to itself.The old mab sold his salt in the city. But he had so little to sell, that he did not make much donkey.A few weeks passed. When the old man had saved enough money,he returned to the villege by the sea.This time the old man though:'I must be more careful when crossing the stream.'But,as they crossed the stream with the salt, the donkey once again tripped and fell.Most of the salt was washed away.The old man was sad.He gave the donkey a long hard look.The donkey just stood there and looked at the ground.On the way home,it trotted along with a light step.'I thing I know your trick,'said the old man to himself. 'I know what you arw uo to.'A mouth later, the old man returned to the villege by the sea.He whistled a jolly tune as he put two large sacks onto the donkey.'Now let us go to the city, 'he said aloud. And he drove the donkey forward.The donkey trotted along carrying the sacks. Then they got to the streasm.'Now, just be careful,'said the old man to the donkey. And they strated to cross the stream. When they were half way across,the donkey tripped and fell over.'No,no! Not again! 'shouted the old man.'Are yoy laughing at me?'asked the old man. The donkey brayed again,and kicked its legs in the air.But this time the sacks did not feel so light. In fact,they felt much heavier.The donkey got up and walked slowly to th bank of the stream.'Well,'said the old man the donkey,' what do you think about that? Now you are carrying sea sponges,my clever friend,not salt!'Don't try to be too clever ;you may be caught out.
