The Wise Brahmin and the Tricky Thieves
Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived a Brahmin named Mitra Sharma. He was a devout worshipper of the Fire-God. One cloudy day during the monsoons, he decided to conduct a special sacrificial ritual.
The Brahmin traveled to a nearby village to visit a devotee. He requested for a goat that he could offer as a sacrifice to the Gods. The devotee agreed and gave him one of his best goats.
The Brahmin started his journey back home, carrying the goat on his shoulders to control it easily on the way.
On his way home, three hungry crooks watched him from a distance. They were starving and saw an opportunity in the lone Brahmin carrying a goat. They decided to trick the Brahmin to get the goat for themselves.
As per their plan, the first crook stood in the Brahmin’s path by taking a shortcut. When the Brahmin approached him, he asked, “Oh Brahmin, why are you behaving so strangely? Why are you carrying a dog on your shoulders?”
Hearing this, the Brahmin got angry and replied, “How can you not see the difference between a goat and a dog? Are you blind? Can’t you see I am carrying a sacrificial goat?”
The crook played his part and replied, “Please don’t get angry at me. You may carry on with your journey.”
A little further, the second crook approached him and said, “Oh Brahmin, shame on you! How can you carry this dead calf on your shoulders like that? Shame on you!”
The Brahmin got even angrier and said, “Are you blind? Can’t you see it is a goat and not a dead calf?”
To this, the second crook replied, “Have it anyway you want it to be, please don’t get angry at me.”
When the Brahmin had gone a little further, the third crook stopped him and said, “Oh Brahmin. This is highly improper for you to do something like this. Why do you carry a donkey on your shoulders? Put him down before anyone sees you doing this!”
Now, the Brahmin started thinking how can three different persons not see that he was carrying a goat? He thought that he must be carrying a goblin which is changing shape all the while.
Fearing so, he put the goat down on the ground and ran home terrified.
The crooks had succeeded in their plan. They caught the goat at once and feasted on it to their heart’s content.
The moral of this story “The Wise Brahmin and the Tricky Thieves” is Untruth spoken repeatedly appears to be truth.