One day a husband and wife who were thieves went into the forest. They were looking for something to steal. Husband said:
“Let’s do this: I will steal what the women grow - cassava, bananas, inyam peppers, and you will steal the cattle from the pens, which are watched by men.” Then no one will think about us.
The wife agreed. And so they began to steal everywhere. Not a single day passed without theft. People were surprised:
- What is this?! Thefts are being committed from us, but we don’t know who is doing it! The cassava disappears, the bananas disappear, the meat also disappears.
And so people began to look for thieves and finally, in the thicket of the forest, they came across a husband and wife.
“You live here in the forest, not in the village, so where do you get your food?” - the people asked them.
They led the thieves into the village to try and kill them. And in those days, a person who was suspected of theft was thrown into the fire. If he died, then people knew that this person had really committed the theft. But these thieves, husband and wife, were very cunning. Husband said:
“I am a cunning man, Nzeki’s husband, I will return home tomorrow.”
And his wife answered him:
“I am Nzeka Yekila, the wife of the sly man, I will return home tomorrow.”
Here the husband and wife were thrown into the fire.
“I didn’t steal cattle from your pens,” the husband shouted, and the flames spared him, since it was not he who stole the cattle, but his wife.
The thief's wife screamed:
- And I didn’t steal bananas, cassava, inyam!
And she didn’t burn either, because she told the truth. So the husband and wife outwitted everyone and remained unharmed. People generously gave them gifts and they returned home.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru