Nasrudin was hired to deliver seven donkeys to a neighboring town. As he went on his way, however, his mind began to wander. Minutes later, he checked to see if all the donkeys were still there.
“One, two, three, four, five, six,” he counted. Somewhat worried, he counted again. “One, two, three, four, five, six.” Now even more worried, he got off the donkey he was riding and counted once again.
“One, two three, four, five, six-seven!” Greatly confused, Nasrudin got back onto the donkey and began counting yet another time. “One, two, three, four, five, six!”
Finally, he got back off of the donkey and counted once more. “One, two three, four, five, six-seven!”
Nasrudin thought for a moment. “Ah!” he said, thinking he finally realized what was going on.
“These donkeys are playing a trick on me so I won’t ride any of them. When I sit on one of them, they create some sort of illusion, and one of them seems to be missing. But when I get off, they stop messing with me.”