A merchant went to a distant city to sell his merchandise at a profit. As he took a place on rent to stay in the city, he caught the attention of some robbers. They found him to be a wealthy trader and decided to rob him. They tried many tricks, but failed. Then their chief planned to disguise himself as a medicine man. He then met the merchant and befriended him. When they sat together to eat, he noticed that the merchant was a good eater as he had a big stomach and advised him to take medicine from him so that he was cured of his stomach illness. Though initially the merchant denied having any problem, but later agreed to try out his medicine on the chief robber’s insistence. The first two days did not see any reaction on the merchant. Gradually, he started believing the robber and started taking his medicine on regular basis. After another couple of days, the robber gave him a deadly medicine. When the merchant consumed it, he died. The robber took all his merchandise and ran away.
The Merchant and the Robbers
