Thief King
One day, a farmer couple finished their work in the vegetable garden and sat in front of their dilapidated house to rest. At this moment, a luxurious carriage pulled by four black horses stopped in front of them. A well-dressed gentleman walked down from inside and looked at them. The old farmer quickly got up and walked towards the gentleman, saying, "Do you need any help?" The gentleman held the old man's hand and said, "I came here to have a home cooked meal with you. Please prepare some potatoes for me, and then we can sit together and have a good meal." The old farmer smiled and said, "You are either a count, a marquis, or a duke. Even the vermilion people often get tired of eating delicacies from the mountains and seas, and occasionally think of eating plain food. I will definitely satisfy you.
So his wife went to the kitchen, washed potatoes, and cooked the meals they usually eat. She was busy living alone, and the old man said to the gentleman, 'Come with me and take a look at the vegetable garden. I happen to have some other work to do.' He dug some pits in the garden to prepare for planting trees. The gentleman saw that he was struggling to dig the ground and said, "These should be left to our children to do." The old man said, "No one can help us anymore. Once, I had a son who was very smart and sensible when he was a child, but when he grew up, he became so bad that his mind was full of bad ideas. Afterwards, he ran away from home and never came back
Speaking of which, the old man picked up a small tree and planted it in the pit. He also inserted a wooden stake next to it, scooped up some soil and filled it into the pit. He then stepped on the soil with his feet and tied the small tree to the stake in three places: upper, middle, and lower. After a while, the gentleman asked, "Look, there's a tree over there that's almost hanging to the ground. Why don't you give it a stake and let it grow straight?" The old man smiled and said, "Sir, you just take it for granted that you don't understand gardening. That tree is already old and has grown into shape, and it can no longer be straightened. The tree should be cultivated from a young age The gentleman said, "Just like your son, if you had controlled him well when he was young, he wouldn't have gone bad, let alone run away from home. Now he has also formed his own type and cannot be changed." "That's for sure," the old man said, "he must have undergone a great transformation after being away from home for so long." "If he came back again, would you still recognize him?" the gentleman asked. It's hard to recognize him just by his appearance, but there's a birthmark the size of a fava bean on his shoulder that I will always remember, "the old man said.
After the old man finished speaking, the gentleman took off his shirt, exposed his shoulder, and showed him the birthmark. The old man exclaimed in surprise, 'Oh my god! You are really my son!' His love for a son was stirred up, and he looked at him excitedly. But you are a wealthy gentleman, how could you be my son? "He said again.
My son said sadly, 'Father, if a small tree doesn't have a stump, it will bend. I'm the same, but now I'm old and can't straighten anymore.'. You asked me how to become a wealthy person because I became a thief. Don't be afraid, I have become the king of theft. For me, locks and door locks are nothing but empty shells. I can get whatever I want. But please don't think of me as a shameless thief, I only take the surplus of wealthy people. And for the poor, not only do I not take from them, but I also help them. I won't touch things that don't require much thought and can be easily obtained.
The old man said, "Son, no matter how skilled you are, you cannot make me happy. Thieves are thieves after all, and sooner or later someone will retaliate against you
The old man led his son to his mother, and when she knew he was her son, she burst into tears with joy. However, upon learning that he had become a skilled thief, her tears kept flowing like a fountain. After controlling herself, she said, "Even if you're a thief, you're still my son. I finally see you again
Their family of three sat together eating. He sat with his parents again, eating the farmhouse food he hadn't eaten in a long time.
Father spoke up, "If the Count knew who you were, he wouldn't hold you in his arms like he did when he baptized you. He would tie you to the gallows
Don't worry, father. He can't do anything to me. I have a solution. I have to visit his house tonight
After dark, he arrived at the Count's mansion in a carriage. The Count warmly received him, treating him as a vermilion, but when he revealed his identity as a thief, the Count was surprised and speechless for a long time. After a while, he finally spoke up: "You are my godson, and I will tolerate you. I will not punish you with the law first, but if you claim to be the king of theft, I will show you your true abilities. If you are self proclaimed, the ropes of the law will also be tied to you
The thief replied, "Count, you may think of three things, no matter how difficult they may be. If I fail to do so, I will be at your disposal
The Count thought for a moment and said, "Firstly, you stole my horse from my stable without anyone noticing. Secondly, you must take away the sheets under our bodies while my wife and I are sleeping, so that we cannot detect them. Additionally, you must also take away the ring from my husband's hand; The third and most difficult task is to steal the pastor and deacon to see me. You should remember all of these, think about it carefully, your life and death depend entirely on yourself.
The thief king came to the nearest city and bought a set of clothes for an old peasant woman to wear. He painted his face brown and added some wrinkles, dressing himself up like an old peasant woman. Then, he bought a small bucket of Hungarian wine and added some colorless and tasteless drugs to it. He carried a wine barrel on his back and walked slowly towards the Count's mansion. When he arrived, it was already dark. He sat on a stone in the yard and started coughing, sounding and looking like an old woman who had contracted a cold. He kept rubbing his hands as if he was about to freeze.
In front of the stable, several soldiers are gathering around the bonfire to warm themselves. One of them noticed him and shouted at him, 'Old mother, come to us to roast and warm yourself. If you haven't found where to spend the night yet, you can make do with us for the night.' The old woman heard this and quickly stumbled away. She asked the soldier to help take off the wine barrel on her back and sat down to roast.
The soldier curiously asked, "Old mother, what's in the bucket? It's so heavy!" She replied, "It's good wine. I'm in the business of buying and selling. As long as you speak humbly and give me a little money, I'm willing to let you taste a glass.
The soldier said, "Let me taste it first. If it's good wine, we'll all drink a few more glasses." After tasting it, he said, "Good wine has a rich and fragrant taste." The others followed suit, and another shouted to the soldiers in the stable, "Shop assistants, there's an old lady here who has high-quality wine. Let's take a sip to warm ourselves up. It's much better than grilling on a fire
The old woman carried a wine barrel to the stable and saw a soldier sitting on a saddle, another holding a reins, and another grabbing the horse's tail. They smelled the aroma of the wine and couldn't resist drinking until they emptied the barrels.
In the blink of an eye, they looked bewildered. After a while, the person released the reins in their hand and fell to the ground, snoring loudly. The person with the ponytail also fell to the ground, snoring louder. Only the person riding on the horse had not yet fallen, but he was also asleep, his head almost hanging down to the horse's neck, and the sound of his mouth retracting was like pulling a windbox. The soldiers outside were lying on the ground one after another, swaying aimlessly, and the thunder wouldn't wake them up.
The thief king saw that his plan had been successfully completed, so he replaced the reins in the soldier's hand with a rope and the ponytail in another soldier's hand with a bundle of grass. The one sitting on the saddle was difficult to handle, and if he was pulled back, he would wake up and shout loudly.
He came up with a good idea. First, he untied the saddle strap and found a few ropes to securely fasten the saddle to the hanging ring on the wall. Then, he wrapped the ropes around the beam and tied them tightly. In this way, the sleeping soldier was suspended. He untied his horse and was about to ride on it when he suddenly thought that if he walked through the cobblestone road in the yard like this, the people in the mansion would surely hear the sound of hooves. So he wrapped the horse's hooves in cloth, carefully pulled the horse out of the stable, and then flew onto the horse, stealing it.
At daybreak, the thief rode the Count's horse to the Count's mansion. The Count had just woken up and was looking into the distance. Good morning, Count! "He said." This is the horse I stole from your stable. Take a look at your soldiers, they are sleeping so sweetly on the ground. Ah! If you plan to visit the stable again, you will see how comfortable the guards are The Count smiled helplessly and said, 'You're lucky this time, but next time you won't have another opportunity. If I catch evidence of you stealing, then I'll have to deal with you as a thief.'.
Tonight, the Count and Lady were extra careful. When the Countess slept, she tightly grasped the finger wearing the ring with her hand. The Count also said, "I locked all the doors. I couldn't even catch my eye this night, waiting for that thief to come. If he goes out of the window, I'll shoot him dead
At this moment, the thief king arrived at the gallows in the dark, cut the rope, and released a death row criminal, then carried him to the Count's mansion. He set up a ladder under the window of the Count's bedroom, propped the dead body on his shoulder, and climbed up. When he reached the dead body's head just touching the window, he stopped. At this moment, the Count who was waiting for him fired at the criminal. The thief king immediately released the criminal and let him fall, while he also jumped off the ladder and hid in a corner. That night, the moonlight was very bright, and the thief king saw the Count climb out of the window and down the ladder, carrying the dead body and running towards the garden. He started digging a pit, hoping to bury the body here.
The thief king, who was hiding in the dark, thought to himself, "Here's the chance!" He quickly ran to the ladder, climbed up the window, and arrived at the Countess's bedroom. He imitated the Count's voice and said, 'Madam, I have already killed the thief. But after all, I am his godfather. He is just playful and not a criminal. I don't want to reveal his identity to the public. Besides, his poor parents are also worthy of sympathy. I want to bury him in the garden before dawn, so that no one knows the truth. Give me a sheet, and I will wrap his body around it, so it won't be like burying a dog.' The Countess handed him the sheet. He said again, 'To show my broad mindedness, give him the ring and let him take it to the grave, after all, he lost his life for it.' The Countess was very unwilling, but she dared not say no to her husband, so she took off the ring and handed it to him.
The Count was still burying the body in the garden, and the Thief King returned home safely with two things in hand.
The next morning, the King of Thieves came to see the Count with a bedsheet and a ring. The Count was already so angry that his nose was crooked. He said, "Do you know how to split yourself? I buried you underground, so someone must have saved you!" "Did you see that face, Count? It was the criminal on the gallows." So he told the whole story of what happened. The Count secretly thought to himself that he was indeed a very wise thief, but he said, "Don't be too proud, there is a third thing. If you can't finish this, then you'll have to wait for death." The thief king didn't refute anything, just smiled and left.
After nightfall, he walked towards the church outside the village with a large pocket on his back and a package under his arm, holding a lantern in his hand. That pocket contains a big crab, and that package contains short candles. He came to the courtyard of the church, sat on the ground, took out a big crab, lit a small candle and stuck it on its back, letting it crawl around on the ground.
Then, he used the same method and placed all the large crabs in his pocket on the ground to crawl. Subsequently, he put on a black robe worn by a priest, with a graying beard on it, dressed in a way that no one could recognize him. So he walked into the church with a bag containing large crabs and climbed onto the altar.
After the final ringing of the twelve o'clock bell, he shouted loudly, "Listen, all of you, the end of the world has arrived! Look, the corpses outside are wandering around, cleaning up their bones! Hurry up and climb into this bag and join me all the way to heaven. I am Saint Peter, the guardian of the gates of heaven. Come quickly, the world is about to be destroyed
His shout echoed to every corner of the village, and the first to be heard were the pastor and deacon, as they lived closest to the church. They saw the moving light on the cemetery and knew that something important had happened, so they came to the church. After listening to the sermon for a while, the deacon leaned in to the pastor's ear and said, "The world is about to be destroyed. It is a gift from the Lord that we can enter heaven before it is destroyed. Don't miss the opportunity!" The pastor replied, "I think so too. If you agree, let's go together!" "Okay, you go ahead, I'll follow ahead," the deacon replied. So they climbed up to the altar one after another, stealing from the king who was holding the big bag. The priest crawled out first, and the deacon followed closely behind. The thief king quickly tied the bag tightly, grabbed the bag, and dragged them down. When the heads of these two fools touched the steps, they shouted, "We're crossing mountains and valleys!" He had been dragging these two people through the village, and the ground was bumpy. They excitedly shouted, "We're soaring through the clouds!" In the end, when the thief dragged them to the steps of the Count's mansion, they seemed to be cheering, "We're climbing the ladder, and soon we'll be in the front hall of heaven!" He dragged them to the side of the pigeon cage and pushed them out. The pigeons flew back and forth, only to hear them say, "Listen, angels are happily flapping their wings!" Then, he inserted the pigeon cage and… I left.
In the morning, he came to see the Count. He said to the Count, "I have completed the third thing. The priest and deacon are now in your mansion." The Count asked, "Where are they? Why didn't I see them?" "They were packed in a pocket, and I locked them in a pigeon cage, but they thought they were in heaven!" The Count climbed up the city tower and saw exactly what he described. Then the Count released the priest and deacon and said to the King of Thieves, "You are worthy of the title of King of Thieves. You have won. This time, I will let you go, but from now on, you must leave here. If you step into my territory again and catch you, I will send you to the gallows
The Thief King bid farewell to his parents and set out to explore the world again. From then on, he seemed to have evaporated from the human world, and no one heard his news again.
Learning: The King of Thieves has extraordinary abilities. Although he is a thief, he will not harm the poor and only steal their surplus from the rich. Despite this, he is still a thief and cannot be accepted by society. In the end, he can only disappear from the human world. From this story, we can conclude that if a person does something improper, no matter how high their ability or noble their character is, they cannot be accepted by others. Only by doing things in a legitimate way is the best way.