Abu Ali bought nine donkeys at the fair and rode one home while the others followed. When he stopped to count, he found he only had eight donkeys. He searched but could not find the missing donkey. When he counted again, all nine were there. Later when he stopped and counted again, he was missing a donkey. His friend Musa saw Abu Ali and his ten donkeys, realizing Abu Ali was riding one of the donkeys and had mistaken himself for one of the animals.

1. Abu Ali and 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 follow 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”