Panchatantra: The wise Merchant And The Cheating Donkey

Here’s another great story from the Panchatantra.

Once, in a small village, there lived a wise merchant. He used to sell his goods in the market of a nearby town. He used to carry his goods there on the back of his donkey. The merchant was fond of the donkey and took care of him. But the donkey was lazy and did not want to work at all.

To get to the market from the village, the merchant and the donkey had to wade across a shallow stream. One day, when the merchant had loaded a big sack of salt on the donkey’s back to carry it to the market, the donkey thought of a trick. They set off on their journey and soon came to the shallow stream. On reaching the middle of the stream, the donkey bent his knees and lowered his back so that the water level came up to the sack. The salt dissolved in the water and flowed out, making the donkey’s load very light. But, because of the donkey’s trick, the merchant had to suffer a heavy loss in his business.

The next day, the merchant loaded a similar sack on the donkey’s back but this time, there was cotton in it instead of salt. On reaching the stream, the donkey thought of playing the same trick again. He bent down and water entered the sack. But, as wet cotton is heavier than dry cotton, the donkey’s load became a lot heavier than before. He had to carry this heavy load the rest of the way. Thus,Because of the merchant’s cleverness, the donkey got the punishment that he deserved.

For more interesting Panchatantra stories for kids, go to: Panchatantra stories.

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