大家好，我是Fiona老師。
今天我們要閱讀的文章是 The Donkey and The Load of Salt 驢子和它背上的鹽
驢子為什麼要坨鹽，又發生了什麼事情呢，最後驢子怎麼樣了呢？
快點讓我們一起來看看發生了什麼吧!
Once, there lived a peddler. The peddler sold all sorts of goods….sturdy shoes for the farmers and pretty trinkets for their sweethearts, warm, woolly shawls to keep the women warm and sweet, sticky toffees for the children to munch on their way back from school.
Some days he sold fruits and on other days, kettles. To carry all his wares, the peddler had a donkey. Every morning, the peddler loaded the donkey with his wares. The two would set out and walk from farmhouse to farmhouse, from village to village and from market to market.
The peddler always walked ahead, whistling merrily as he went. The poor donkey followed, trying as hard as he could to keep up with his master and groaning under the weight of his load.
Every evening, their wares sold, the peddler and his donkey would wend their way home. The peddler, pleased with the day's takings, would walk ahead, jingling the pennies in his pocket. The poor old donkey would follow, foot sore and weary from carrying the heavy sacks all day long.
「Ah! My poor feet! Oooh! My aching back!" the donkey moaned every night as he collapsed wearily onto the hay in his stable.
The old grey cat who shared the stable with the donkey, would shake her head and sigh. 'Poor old donkey,' she would say to herself, and slink off into the night.
One morning, the peddler loaded the poor donkey with a dozen sacks. The sacks were full of salt and much heavier than the donkey’s usual load. The donkey groaned under the weight, but bore it patiently, as he had always done.
「I shall make a tidy profit today on this salt.' said the peddler to the donkey, as they set off. 'There is not a woman who does not need to buy salt for her cooking and they will pay me well for this. I shall be a rich man tonight!'
And the peddler danced a little jig in the middle of the road. The donkey could only think of the heavy load on his back and the long day ahead.
The donkey plodded along behind the peddler. The sun was now high in the sky. The donkey was hot and tired and longing for a drink of water. Up ahead, he knew, there flowed a stream of cool, sweet water. The donkey hurried towards the stream as fast as his tired legs and the heavy load on his back would allow and leaned over for a drink. The edge of the stream was slippery with mud and slush. The donkey, with the heavy sacks of salt on his back, slipped and fell into the water.
「Oooh, help! Help!' brayed the donkey in terror, his legs flailing madly in the water. 『I will surely drown with this terrible load on my back!'
But suddenly, the donkey felt himself floating, the load on his back gone as if by magic. He clambered out on to the bank and shook himself. Yes! The weight on his back had vanished!
Of course the sacks were lighter, for the salt had dissolved in the water. But the donkey did not know that. 'At last! A way to rid myself of my burdens,' he thought and brayed with joy at his great discovery.
That night he told the grey cat all about how he had slipped and fallen into the stream and how, when he had climbed out, his load had become so much lighter.
「No more heavy loads for me,' declared the donkey, feeling very pleased.
『Every time it gets too much for me, all I have to do is to pretend to fall into a stream and my load will lessen by magic!'
The grey cat shook her head and sighed. 'Poor old donkey.' she said and slunk off into the night.
Next morning the peddler loaded the monkey again, this time with bales of cloth that he wanted to sell at the next village. Be careful today, old donkey,』 he said as they set off. 『I did not earn penny yesterday. I must earn double today or we go to bed hungry tonight.'
The donkey plodded along behind the peddler and groaned under the weight of the cloth. His back ached more than ever and his feet were killing him. He resolved to find a stream as quickly as he could. As luck would have it, the peddler took the same path he had taken the previous day and very soon they came to the same stream. The donkey hurried ahead as though very thirsty and pretending to slip, fell in. He kicked his legs about, making sure the bundle on his back was properly soaked.
In a moment my burden will vanish." he told himself and kicked about some more.
But what was happening? Something was wrong! His load, in stead of becoming lighter, had become much heavier and was slowly pulling him deeper into the stream. Of course his burden was heavier, for the water had soaked into the bales of cloth. The poor donkey thrashed about in the water and brayed in terror.
「Help! Help!' he cried.
Meanwhile, the peddler had rushed to the stream and bracing himself on the bank, helped the frightened donkey out of the water.
That night, the donkey was a sad and subdued creature. He had had to carry the much heavier, soaked and dripping bales of cloth all the way home again. His back was truly aching and what was worse, he had caught a cold. He sneezed miserably into the straw. The old grey cat looked at him and sighed. 'Poor old donkey,' he said and slunk off into the night.
從前，有一個小販。小販賣各種各樣的商品……為農民提供結實的鞋子，給他們的情人買漂亮的小飾品，暖和的羊毛披肩讓女人溫暖和甜蜜，黏糊糊的太妃糖讓孩子們在放學回家的路上吃。
有幾天他賣水果和其他d東西，比如水壺。為了運載所有的貨物，小販有一頭驢。每天早晨，小販都用他的驢子裝載那些貨物。兩人出發，從農舍到農舍，從村到村，從市場走向市場。
小販總是走在前面，一邊走一邊愉快地吹口哨。可憐的驢子跟著他，盡最大努力跟上主人的腳步，在他的重擔下呻吟。
每天晚上，他們的商品賣了，小販和驢子都會回家。小販對當天的收入很滿意，就走在前面，把口袋裡的硬幣弄得叮噹響。可憐的老驢子一整天都扛著沉重的麻袋，腳痛難忍。
「啊！我可憐的腳！哦！我的背部疼痛！」驢子每天晚上呻吟著躺在馬廄裡的乾草上，呻吟著。
老灰貓和驢都住在馬廄，搖搖頭嘆息。可憐的老驢子，「她會對自己說，然後溜入深夜。
一天早晨，小販把那只可憐的驢子裝滿了一袋麻袋。麻袋裡裝滿了鹽，比驢子平常的負荷重得多。驢子在重物下呻吟，但耐心地忍受著，就像他一直做的那樣。
「今天我要在這鹽上賺一大筆錢。」小販出發時對驢子說。沒有一個女人不需要為她的烹飪買鹽，她們會為此付出代價的。今晚我將成為一個有錢人！
小販在路中間跳起了舞。驢子只能想到背上的重擔和漫長的一天。
驢子蹣跚地走在小販後面。太陽現在高高的在天空中。驢子又熱又累，渴望喝點水。他知道，前面有一股清涼的水。驢子急忙朝著小溪奔去，就像他疲倦的腿和背上沉重的重擔一樣，俯身喝了一口。溪邊泥濘泥濘。驢背上背著沉重的鹽袋，滑倒在水裡。
「哦，救命啊！救命！」嚇壞了驢子，他的腿瘋狂地在水裡飛舞。「我肯定會被背上的重擔淹死的！」
但是突然，驢子感覺到自己在漂浮，背上的重擔像魔術般消失了。他爬到岸邊，搖了搖頭。對！他背上的重物消失了！
當然，袋子是輕的，因為鹽溶解在水中。但驢子不知道。最後！一個擺脫我的負擔的方法，「他想到並發現他的偉大發現欣喜若狂。
那天晚上，他告訴那隻灰貓他是怎樣滑進河裡的，當它爬出來的時候，它的負載變得多麼輕。
「我再也沒有重擔了，」驢說，心裡很高興。
每一次對我來說都是太多了，我所要做的就是假裝掉進河裡，我的負荷會被魔法減少。
灰貓搖搖頭嘆了口氣。可憐的老驢子，」她說，然後溜進了黑夜。
第二天早晨，小販又把驢子背上裝滿了，這次他帶著一捆布，想在下一個村子裡賣。「小心點，老驢子，」他出發時說。我昨天沒有掙到便士。我今天必須掙一倍，否則我們今晚就要餓著肚子睡覺了。
驢子拖著沉重的步子走在小販後面，呻吟著。他的背痛比以往任何時候都更痛，他的腳也在折磨著他。他決心儘快找到一條小溪。幸運的是，小販走上了他前一天走的路，很快他們來到了同一條小溪。驢子急忙向前走去，好像很渴，假裝溜了進去。他踢腿，確保背上的包袱完全浸透了。
「一會兒，我的負擔就消失了。」他自言自語，又踢了幾下。
但是發生了什麼事？有點不對勁！他的負荷，而不是變得更輕，已經變得更重，並慢慢拉他更深的河流。當然，他的負擔更重了，因為水浸沒在包裡。可憐的驢子在水裡打滾，嚇得發抖。
「救命！救命！」他哭了。
與此同時，小販衝到河邊，把自己撐在河岸上，把受驚的驢子從水裡救出來。
那天晚上，驢子是一個悲傷和壓抑的動物。在回家的路上，他不得不扛著更重、浸溼、滴落的棉布。他的背部真的很痛，更糟糕的是，他感冒了。他痛苦地打噴嚏。