Abu Ali Counts his Donkeys

Abu Ali Counts his Donkeys

One day Abu Ali went to the fair, and bought nine donkeys. He rode home on one of them the rest of the donkeys followed behind.
After a while Abu Ali said to himself, “I must make sure all my donkeys are here.” And he turned round to count them.
“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Oh! Where’s number nine?” Abu Ali cried
He jumped down from his donkey. He looked behind the rocks and behind the trees. But there was no donkey to be seen.

“I’ll count them again,” Abu Ali said. “One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. Oh, he must have come back.”
So Abu Ali climbed back on to the donkey and trotted away.
After a while he counted his donkeys again. He counted only eight! Once more he looked behind the rocks and behind the trees. But there was no donkey to be seen.
“I will count again,” he said, and this time there were nine.
Just then Abu Ali saw his friend Musa walking along the road. “Musa,” he called. “Help me to count my donkeys. I keep losing one. When I stop to count I have only eight, but when I get down looking for the ninth, there he is again!”
“Well, I can see ten donkeys, Abu Ali,” laughed Musa. “And the tenth donkey’s name is Abu Ali”