Who Stole the Ruby?

A dying King called his three sons to him and gave each of them a ruby. "Keep this," said he, "in remembrance of your father."

The three rubies were put into a box and locked up. Some time afterwards, on opening the box, only two rubies were found in it, and the third one was missing.

Now the three sons knew that had a thief been there, he would have helped himself to all the stones, so they said within themselves: "One of our friends has done this; let us go and tell the Priest."

So they started off together, and on the way met a man, who said: "Friends, have you seen my camel?"

"Was it blind?" asked the eldest brother.

"Yes," said the man.

"Had it no tail?" asked the second.

"You are right," said the man.

"Was it carrying vinegar?" enquired the third.

"Yes," replied the man. "Did you see it?"

"No," said the brothers; "we did not see it."

"Very strange," returned the man; "you know all about it, and yet you did not see it. I will also go to the Priest and tell him about you."

So they went, and the man told the Priest his story.

"How is it that you three know all about the camel, and yet you did not see it?" said the Priest.

"Well," said the eldest, "I noticed that all the plants and shrubs on the way were eaten on one side only, so I concluded that the animal who had eaten them must have been blind not to see the other side."

"How did you know that it had no tail?"

"I saw the patch of mud where it sat down," replied the second brother, "and there was an imprint of a body but no tail."

The Priest then asked the third boy how he knew that the camel carried vinegar.

"Because all along the road were wet patches which smelt of vinegar."

These answers pleased the Priest very much, and he gave a feast for the brothers.

During the feast he sat down, and, unknown to them, watched and listened to find out what they were talking about.

The eldest said: "This grain he has given us to eat was grown in a cemetery."

The second said: "And this meat is not killed meat; it is some other flesh."

The youngest said: "The Priest himself is a villain."

Then the Priest ran out and caught the man who had sold him the grain.

"Tell me at once where you gathered this grain?" demanded he.

"From a cemetery," confessed the man.

After this the Priest sought the butcher, and said: "Where did you get that meat you sold me? Did you kill the sheep?"

The butcher admitted that it was the flesh of a goat which had dropped dead, and had not been killed.

Going back, the Priest resolved to catch the boys in their own net, and he told them a story about two men and a thief.

"Now," said he, when he had finished, "which of the three do you prefer?"

The eldest boy said he liked one man, and the second the other, but the third preferred the thief!

"Well," said the Priest, "if you prefer the thief, you yourself must be a thief. Where is the third ruby?"

On this the boy confessed that he had stolen it; and, taking it out of his pocket, restored it to his brother. The three went home together, and lived happily ever afterwards.