One day three thieves went out to their trade to steal something. And the king who ruled in those parts, just at that hour, secretly walked around the city in simple clothes: he wanted to see how his subjects lived. He saw three thieves, approached them and asked:
- Who are you, brothers?
- We are thieves, looking for something to steal! - they answer. - Who are you?
- I'm a thief too. What are you, brothers, famous for in your business? - asks the king.
“I have such an eye,” says one, “that as soon as I look at any lock, it immediately unlocks.”
“And I have such a sense of smell,” says another, “that I can smell any treasure even underground.”
The third said:
“And I’ll see a person once and then, even after a hundred years, I can tell where to find him.”
Then they began to ask the king:
“Now you, thief, tell us what you can boast about.”
“If I nod my head in one direction,” the king answered, “then the man will be hanged immediately; if I nod in the other, he will get rid of the noose.” So if we go together, you will give me half of what you get.
“Such a comrade will be useful to us,” the thieves thought. “After all, we always live under the fear of execution, but with him we have nothing to fear from the noose.” And they took him as a comrade.
The king led them to where his own treasury was kept. The first thief looked at the locks, and they immediately opened. The second one immediately showed where the treasures were buried. The thieves collected gold and jewelry and were about to leave, and then the guards grabbed them. The king quietly hid from the thieves and sent guards there. They brought three thieves to the royal court, and the king ordered them to be hanged. Then the thieves remembered about their new comrade: “If only he were here, he would rescue us!” The first two thieves asked the third:
- Tell me, brother, where is our new comrade?
He looked around and pointed to the king who was sitting on the throne:
- Here he is!
Then all three thieves prayed:
- Oh Maharaj, we showed you everything we can. Now show your skills, it’s not for nothing that you called yourself our comrade.
The king made a sign with his head, and the guards immediately freed the thieves. The king gave them half of what they took from the treasury and ordered them never to take someone else’s property again.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru