A merchant and his Donkey One beautiful spring morning, a merchant

A Merchant and his Donkey
One beautiful spring morning, a merchant loaded his donkey with bags of salt to go to the market, in order to sell the salt. The merchant and his donkey were walking all together. They had not walked far when they reached a river on the way.
Unfortunately, the donkey slipped and fell in to the river. As it scrambled up the bank of the river, it noticed that the bags of salt loaded on his back had become lighter.
There was nothing the merchant could do except return home, where he loaded his donkey with more bags of salt. As they reached the slippery riverbank again, the donkey fell into the river, this time deliberately. Thus the salt was wasted again.
By now the merchant knew the donkey’s trick. He wanted to teach the animal a lesson. As he returned home the second time with the donkey, the merchant loaded bags of sponges on its back.
The duo set out on their trip to the market a third time. On reaching the river, the donkey very cleverly fell into the water again. But now, instead of the load becoming lighter, it became heavier.
The merchant laughed at the donkey and said, “You foolish donkey, your trick has been discovered. You should know that you cannot fool anyone too many times.”
Vocabulary
Merchant – savdogar; торговец
Deliberately – ataylab; сознательно
Slipped – sirpanib ketdi; проскользнул
Scrambled up – ag’anab tushdi; взобрался
Foolish – ahmoq; глупый
Bags of sponges - gubka solingan qoplar; мешки с губками
Exercises
Answer the questions

1. 
   What did the merchant sell in the market?
   
2. 
   Why did the merchant have to go back home twice?
   
3. 
   How did the merchant punish his donkey for its trick?
   

Say whether the statement is true or false. Give the right answer, if it is false

1. 
   While the merchant was riding, the donkey ran fast and he fell into the river
   
2. 
   The second time donkey fell into the river on purpose.
   
3. 
   After its trick the donkey was happy as the owner began to load light sponges on it.
   

Complete the sentences

1. 
   The merchant loaded his donkey with bags of salt as ______________________________________________________
   
2. 
   The donkey fell into the river with the load on it because ______________________________________________________
   
3. 
   There was nothing the merchant could do except _______________________________________________________
   
4. 
   The donkey was loaded with the bags of light sponges next time but _______________________________________________________
   

What do you think?

1. 
   Who is cleverer? The donkey or the merchant?
   
2. 
   If you were the merchant, how would you punish your donkey?