Narrative: The Merchant and His Donkey

A long time ago, there was a merchant who had a donkey. One day he bought some sacks of salt and put them on the donkey’s back.. On the way, they had to cross a river. The donkey fell down into the water and the burden became lighter because the salt melted. It did this twice when they were in the river.

The merchant was disappointed and angry. He thought the donkey played a trick on him. Therefore, he wanted to punish it. He, then, bought the sponge rubber instead of salt and put it on its back. When they arrived at the river for the third time the donkey lay down quickly. The burden was heavier, and the donkey could not get up. The merchant forced it to stand up and continue their journey. The donkey walked very slowly because of the heavy burden. The merchant said  to himself, ”You deserve the punishment”.

Narrative: The Fox and the Crow

Miss Crow had stolen a big piece of cheese, and flew onto a branch to enjoy it. A sly fox, who wanted the cheese for himself, came up and spoke politely to her.

“Oh, Miss Crow, how beautiful you are! What a lovely beak, what lovely feathers you have! What pretty eyes! If only you could sing, you would be the most beautiful bird in the world!”

Very pleased to hear all of these about herself, Miss Crow gave a loud croak to show that she could sing. Of course, the moment she opened her beak, the cheese fell down and Mr. Fox ran away with it, laughing loudly.