44、 A farmer had once made a purchase of a fine fat sheep, hoping to offer it up to the Buddha. While he was leading it home, four thieves saw him and made up their minds to steal the sheep. They knew him to be an honest person and one who thought of no more harm in others than he had in himself. They dared not take the sheep away from him by force, for they were too near the city. Therefore, they thought hard and got an idea: they first parted company and then came to the man as if they had come from several distinct parts.
The first thief came up to the farm and said, “My good old man, why are you leading this dog?”
At this moment the second thief, coming from another direction, cried to him, “Poor old man, where have you stolen this dog?”And immediately after these words, the third thief came up and asked the farmer,“Where are you going with this handsome greyhound?”
The poor farmer began to doubt whether the sheep was a sheep or not. But the fourth robber put him quite beside himself by coming near him and asking what the dog cost him.
The farmer began to think and got the conclusion that the four men, who came from different directions, could not all be wrong. He believed that the sheep he was leading was a dog. On realizing this, the farmer went back quickly to the market to demand his money from the person who sold him the dog, leaving the dog with the four thieves.