It was upon a cool and breezy afternoon, near the Dead Sea in Israel, that there was a merchant who was resting in his little tidy store. Suddenly a man came scuttling into the store, looking for refuge from the wind. The man intently stated jabbering away while studying the contents of the store. Because he was rather unsocial, the merchant tried to make him stop talking by asking “Can I help you sir?” The man replied, “I noticed that you sell salt. Did you know that salt is very cheap down by the sea? Well I have to go.” And with that he rushed out the door.

  Early the next day the merchant readied his donkey and they set out to the sea. On their way back home they heard the symphony of the splashing stream they had crossed before. Thinking of how nice it was not having to pay so much for salt, the merchant carelessly lead his donkey across the stream. The donkey, who was also being careless, slipped on a rock and plunged into the water making her thoroughly soaked. When she was back on the trail, she found that her lode was half as heavy as before because much of the salt had washed away. By the time they returned home all the salt was completely dissolved. The next day they traveled back for more but again at the stream she slipped, this time on purpose. Once more they got a heavy load of salt and once more she fell, even though the merchant chose a shallower rout through the stream.

  When he was unloading the donkey he noticed how much lighter the basket was without the salt in it. “Aha!” he exclaimed. “We will soon halt this deceitfulness.” The next morning was cooler than usual as they made their way to the sea. This time he bought sponges which were much lighter. The sly donkey did not watch her master nor did she realize different in weight. She was only figuring how she would pretend to slip. When she tripped in the steam the sponges did not dissolve. They soaked up a great deal of water and became unbearably heavy. The trip back home was pure torture because of the cold weather and heavy load. That night the donkey made a vow never to deceitfully trip in the stream again.