Once, a sage came to a village. A rich man gave him a place to stay. Now, the rich man had a lot of gold. He was scared of thieves. So, he kept the gold under the sage’s care. After a few days, the sage came to the merchant and said, “I have spent enough time here. Now, I wish to leave.” The merchant bade him farewell. The sage went some distance and came back to the merchant. He said, “I do not keep anything that belongs to others.” Saying so, he took out a straw from his beard, which he himself had put there, and gave it to the merchant. The merchant was mighty pleased with the sage’s honesty. But a friend of his saw all this and grew suspicious. He said to the merchant, “Have you checked your gold?” They both went to check the gold. To the merchant’s surprise, the gold was missing. They caught the fraud sage. He was punished for cheating the merchant.
The Rogue Sage
