Once upon a time, there was a clever merchant who traveled to different fairs
with his favorite donkey. The donkey carried all the goods for trading on its back.
During their travels, whenever they took a break, the clever merchant had a
clever trick to play. He would cover the donkey with a lion’s skin to make it look
like a fierce lion!
Whenever people passed by and saw the donkey wearing the lion’s skin, they
were so scared that they never went near it. This gave the sneaky merchant a
chance to let the donkey wander into fields and munch on tasty plants. When the
donkey was full and happy, the merchant would remove the lion’s skin, load up
the donkey with goods again, and continue their journey.
The merchant and the donkey continued this for quite some time. One day they
reached a village where people saw the lion in a field and started running away in
fear. But a wise man in the village stopped everyone and asked why they were
running. He listened carefully and realized something was fishy because lions
don’t eat paddy!
The wise man gathered everyone and went to the field. He took a closer look at
the lion and noticed something strange. He picked up a stone and threw it at the
lion. To everyone’s surprise, instead of a lion’s roar, they heard a donkey’s bray!
That’s when they all realized it was just a trick.
The villagers stopped being afraid and went to the donkey, taking it for their
keeping. The merchant, caught in his trickery, lost his favorite donkey forever. No
matter how clever you are, the truth will eventually come out, leading to a loss
rather than a gain.
Merchant and the Donkey
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