They say that in one country there lived a very rich man. He had a lot of grain, cows, bulls, camels, goats and sheep. And then one day three thieves, having agreed in advance, climbed into the house of this rich man and stole part of his livestock and money. With the stolen goods they fled into a deserted area.
The two thieves, after consulting with each other, decided to send the third to buy something to eat. He went. And the conspirators began to think: “Our comrade will return - and all this property will have to be divided among three. How much will we get then? It’s better to do this: our comrade will come, and we will kill him!” That's what they decided on.
And the third thief came to the market and thought: “I won’t get much if we divide all the goods between three. I’ll buy some food and add poison to the food; both my friends will die, and then all the goods will be mine.”
So he did: he poured poison into the food and set off on the way back.
But before he could reach the place where he left his comrades, they attacked him and killed him, and then took the food he brought and ran away. They ate this poisoned food and died a quarter of an hour later.
So all three thieves died without profiting from anything. And the property they stole was found and returned to the owner.
That’s what the proverb says: what a thief loot will destroy him.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru