Don't You Have Any Donkeys in Your Country? (no, only american ones...)

The problem with the American rug collector's tactic for trying to buy the rug on the donkey was not flawed, just unlucky. It was also ironic, because of the talk before about the peasants' antique scam. The American's idea for buying the donkey to get the rug is actually a good idea, except for the satirical fact that the old peasant valued the rug as a family heirloom.

The American, the guilty friend and the old peasant all discuss the fact that a lot of poor peasants gather around archaeological dig sites and sell objects that are made to look like valuable antiques just dug out of the ground. The fact that even famous archaeologists, not just any tourist, fell for the scam, makes it even funnier. The peasant describes how there are only a few scraps of wood in every peasants' house, because they have all turned each piece of wood into an "antique" heightens the satire of the situation.

Now, the part about the American rug dealer wanting to buy the rug is the funny part. The American didn't want the old peasant to know that the rug was valuable, so he told the peasant that he wanted to buy the donkey, in order to get the rug. Instead, the peasant actually wanted to keep the rug, because it was handed down from his ancestors. So first, the peasants are trying to con the foreigner tourists into buying a worthless antique, and then the American is trying to con the old peasant into selling a priceless rug. Of course, this time, both the buyer and the seller know the worth of the object...

-ALim BookChomper