Direct Translation (Word by Word):
merchant-a-to market-to merchandise transport-doer-of mule-a had and. market as-for his village from distance long
about-to is therefore mule-to baggage weight great put and. weight great carry and go while mule that again and again
tired became.
day one market-to go while slipped due-to mule water in-to fell and. baggage parts all wet became did. however merchant-by
mule up raise after front-of went. market-at arrive about did at that time mule-by felt-to baggage very light-of became-of
felt did. because of that. baggage as-for salt was and mule water in-to fell at-that-time salt wet became due-to melted did.
now mule-to method a found and. he-by water-of in-to fell from self-by back-of baggage that lighter make try do. time long
not take-to mule-of cunning that merchant-by knew when. he-to advice a give desire great felt.
next day there he-by mule-to hemp-of made-of sack many a and. grass matt few loaded after earlier like market to went.
mule-by earlier like water-of middle-in slipped due-to lied down did. nevertheless sadly-a-to sack-of weight lesser-to
went there left other than that sack heavy became did. hemp and grass matt (plural) water-by soaked-to resulted from weight
increased did. that from mule-to advice good a got after that like that root from do not.
Full Translation:
Merchant had a mule to carry his goods to the market. The market was far away from his village. The merchant used to load
the mule with heavy baggage. The mule grew tired of carrying the heavy load.
One day, while going to the market, the mule slipped and fell into water. The entire load of goods became wet.
However, the merchant got the mule up and led it on. By the time they reached the marked the mule felt the load had
become much lighter. The load was sacks of salt and as the mule slipped into the water the salt had melted.
Now the mule got an idea. He would fall into the water and the load on his back would become lighter. It did not take
the merchant long time to figure out what the cunning mule was up to. He wanted to teach him a lesson.
Next day he loaded the mule with sacks full of hemp and few grass mats. Like before when they were on the way to the
market, the mule slipped and fell into the water. But unfortunately, instead of reducing the weight, the load grew
heavier. The hemp sacks and grass mats had soaked up water and increased the weight. The mule learnt the lesson and
resolved not to try anything like that again.