It Pays To Be Clever
Not far from the city there was a fine orchard. Its owner lived in the city, but he never failed to visit his orchard once in the morning and once more in the afternoon. There was a small shed meant for the man who kept guard on the plants. Some of the plants were bending with fruits. The guard was a faithful man and he jealously looked after this master's interest. One day the guard went on leave. The master was thinking of some alternative arrangement for the watch on his orchard. Two beggars who stood outside the orchard gate, told him prayfully, "Sir, the evening is not far. Left in the open, we might die of cold. Will you kindly allow us to enjoy the comfort of your shed?" "I would not only allow you the shed but also give you a sackful of fruits if you promise to keep watch on my orchard," said the owner.
"But, sir, one of us is a cripple. The other is blind!" replied the beggars. "I am not expecting any mischief to my orchard. In any case, your presence should be enough. If you see someone trying to scale the boundary wall, just shout at him. But, remember, you should not announce that one of you is a cripple and the other blind," said the owner of the orchard. The two beggars were overjoyed. The master helped both of them into the shed. Then he locked the gate and went away. It was twilight. A vagabond came strolling near the gate and said, "How lucky these two fellows are! The whole orchard with all its sweet fruits is left to them!" "Who are you? Don't try to scale the wall!" shouted the beggars from the shed. "Why should I do such a thing, you fools? Don't I have more useful things to do? I am only saying how lucky you two are! You are here to check any intruder. But who is there to check you from enjoying those delicious fruits known to be the tastiest ones in the country?" remarked the vagabond. The remark had its effect. The beggars, who were in the habit of declaring their helpless state to everybody, said, "Friend, we wish we could be that lucky! But the fact is, one of us is a cripple while the other is blind. One cannot reach fruits, the other cannot see where they are!" they said, almost breaking down. "What dunderheads you are! Don't you know that together you could do anything which a normally healthy fellow can do?" commented the vagabond and he added before going away, "It pays to be clever!" That set the beggars to think.
Soon they hit on a plan to plunder the orchard. The cripple sat on the blind man's shoulder and led him to the plants. As it was getting dark, he could not distinguish the ripe fruits from the raw ones. He went on plucking at random. Between the two, they ate the ripe ones and threw away the others. They continued on their rampage until they had grown full and tired. They woke up early in the morning. They would have liked to escape before the master had arrived. But the gate was locked. The master arrived soon and was aghast to see the raw and half-eaten fruits scattered all over the garden. "But, sir, one of us is a cripple and the other blind. We could not have gone anywhere near the plants!" the two beggars put forward their excuse. "Shut up!" shouted the master who was no fool. He hurled them out. With some difficulty, he checked his temptation to give them a thrashing. "How unlucky we are!" exclaimed the beggars. "You are unlucky not because of your crippledom and blindness, but because of your wickedness. Had you been faithful, I would have given you plenty of fruits and, maybe, a permanent shelter," said the master as he closed the greed. The beggars could do nothing except for cursing their bad plan.
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