Once upon a time, there lived an ignorant farmer in a remote village. He was an uneducated person and he knew very little about how the world works. One day, his wife wove cotton fabric and handed it over to the man. She asked her husband to sell the fabric in the market and get something useful in return.

So, when market day arrived, he went down the mountain to the marketplace in town. Of course, he had the roll of cotton fabric with him. He sat at the corner of the market and waited for potential buyers all day long. When it was getting dark, he finally managed to sell the fabric. He felt happy to get some money and he remembered his wife’s request to buy something useful with it. So he sauntered around the market for a while, looking for something to buy. Passing by a fruit stand, he saw watermelons piled up on the ground. Having never seen a watermelon before, he wondered what the strange-looking things were. So, he asked the vendor what the green thing was. The watermelon vendor thought that this man was really an ignorant twit. The shopkeeper believed it was a perfect chance to trick the country bumpkin. He answered that the thing was a donkey’s egg and urged him to buy it. Hearing the price suggested by the vendor, the countryman thought that it would be quite reasonable to get such a useful animal at that price. He asked the vendor how long it would take for the egg to hatch. Holding back his laughter, the shopkeeper told the man to cover the “donkey egg” with a blanket and keep it warm for a few days, and it would hatch by itself. This sounded even more amazing to the man. He carefully chose one “egg” and took it back home.

At home, the man did exactly what he was told to do. He covered the precious egg with a thick blanket and placed it in the warmest part of the room. The wife, who had also never seen watermelons before, let her husband do as he wished. After days of waiting and praying, the man slowly uncovered the blanket, hoping to see a cute foal. But what he found was a big, round rotten thing with a horrible smell. The wife was angry. She yelled at her husband. “Where is the donkey? The smell is so terrible. Just throw the disgusting thing away!” The man was disappointed and irritated. He took out the rotten watermelon and threw it into the bushes near his house.

At that time, a young donkey belonging to someone in the neighboring village was hiding itself under those bushes. In fact, the donkey was resting there after it had sneaked out of its stable. When the man threw the watermelon into the bushes, the animal was surprised and jumped up to run away. The man was astonished. He shouted, “There! The egg has finally hatched. That’s my donkey.” He ran after the donkey, which went back to its stable in the next village. Breathing hard after his run, the man tried to pull the donkey out of the stable. The owner of the donkey saw this and shouted angrily. “Hey! Who are you? What are you doing in my barn? Why are you stealing my donkey?” The countryman answered politely that the donkey was his. He began to explain what had happened in the marketplace and how long he had waited for the egg to hatch.

The ridiculous explanation rendered the owner speechless. He told the countryman that the merchant in the market must have fooled him and the donkey egg didn’t make sense at all. But the simple-minded farmer wouldn’t believe him and kept insisting that the donkey belonged to him.

The real owner of the donkey gave up persuading the farmer. He went to the local magistrate with the farmer and asked the magistrate to determine the ownership of the donkey. After hearing both men out, the magistrate ordered officials to arrest the watermelon vendor. The shrewd magistrate then ordered the merchant to buy the farmer a donkey. The farmer and the real owner of the donkey were both happy, while the sly watermelon seller was deservedly dealt with.