A salt merchant lived in a small village. Everyday, he walked to the city to buy salt. His donkey accompanied him. The merchant loaded the bags of salt on the donkey, and they walked back to the village along the river. But the donkey did not like to carry so many bags on his back as he was lazy.
The donkey always looked for ways to get rid of work. One day, salt merchant loaded the donkey with two bags of salt, and they started walking back to the village.
On the way, the donkey accidentally slipped into the river.
The salt dissolved in the water and when the donkey was pulled out of the river, he felt lighter.
The salt merchant had to go back to the city to buy more salt. The donkey thought of this is a good idea to get rid of the load. The next day, the donkey intentionally slips into the river.
When he was pulled out, he felt lighter. The salt merchant understood the donkey trick. He knew that donkey was falling in the river on purpose.
One day, the salt merchant filled the bag with cotton instead of salt. The donkey felt that the bags were much lighter than previous days, but donkey wished to reduce the weight even more. So the donkey again fell into the river. But when he was pulled out, the load on his back felt much heavier.
As the bag contained cotton, when it fell into the water along with the donkey, the cotton observed water and the bag become heavier. The donkey had to pick up the heavier load.
It realized his mistake and understood that the same measures will not suit all circumstances. He had learned his lesson.
Moral of the Story: You can fool a person only few times, but not always.