The Tenth Friend

The Tenth Friend :


Once, a group of ten foolish boys went to take a dip in the river. They enjoyed themselves in the water. Then the boys got out, dressed up and walked off.


A few minutes later, one of them said, "Friends, I think we should count and see that all of us are safe. I hope no one of us has drowned in the river."


The other friends agreed. So the boys stood in a row. One of them started counting, "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine! Oh! Where is our tenth friend. He is missing!"


Then another boy counted and found one missing. He cried out, "Our tenth friend has drowned. Oh! Please someone help us."


A passerby enquired why the boys were crying. On knowing the reason, he made the boys stand in a row and counted all the ten of them. The boys were overjoyed. The man said, "You were all counting correctly but always forgot to count yourself!”


The boys felt ashamed when they realized their foolish mistake.

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