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25 The Mystery of the Twelfth Donkey

Read and write the story :

Once there was a stupid man named John. He worked as a farmer’s assistant. One

day, he was going to the market with loads of vegetables. The load was carried by

eleven donkeys, while John rode the twelfth one. Before leaving for the market, he
counted the twelve donkeys, but on his way home, he found one donkey missing.

Actually, he hadn’t counted the donkey that he was riding. Alarmed, he alighted

from his donkey, and counted them. Now there were twelve donkeys! Satisfied,
he mounted his donkey and rode towards the farm. The other donkeys followed

him. Some minutes later, he got suspicious, and counted again. Now, to his

dismay, there were only eleven donkeys! He was terribly puzzled. He kept on

counting and recounting the donkeys. When he mounted a donkey, they were

eleven, and when he got down and counted, they were twelve. At last, his master
came in search of him, and solved the mystery. “Let all my thirteen donkeys walk

to the farm,” he declared.

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