The Thief Who Became Ruler
Three thousand years ago Rameses II was Pharaoh of Egypt. Under his rule, Egypt became a land flowing with milk and honey. Rameses himself acquired great riches, and his treasury was overflowing with gold and precious stones. The safekeeping of such a vast treasure was a perpetual worry. So Rameses ordered his architect to build a vault to hold all his treasure, and it had to be absolutely impregnable. After several years of enforced labor, with walls of huge thickness built of great blocks of stone. There was but one entrance, which only Pharaoh himself could open and lock. The architect, however, had few scruples, and he built a secret entrance to the vault, which was impossible to detect, and from time to time the architect would help himself to a diamond or two, or a few pieces of gold. One day the architect fell mortally ill, and on his death bed told his two sons of the secret entrance to Pharaoh's treasure vault. But he warned his sons to be careful of Pharaoh would have no mercy on anyone stealing his riches. The two brothers continued to raid Pharaoh's treasure and maybe they were too greedy because Pharaoh discovered he was being robbed and devised a way to catch the culprit. One night he had a thousand soldiers digging man traps around his treasure house. These were deep pits fitted with swords to impale whoever was unfortunate enough to fall in. Later, in the same week, the two brothers stealthily approached the treasure house, but before they reached the secret door, the elder brother was caught in one of the traps, and in spite of all their efforts, it was hopeless, he could not get out. In the end, the elder brother painfully whispered, "Listen carefully, the only hope to save you from discovery is to cut off my head and take my clothes. Then the Pharaoh's guards will never be able to discover the identity of a headless, naked body."
Realizing there was no alternative, the younger brother cut off his brother's head and wrapping it in his brother's garments, hurried home to his mother, to whom he told the sorry story. The next morning the guards found the headless body, and although it could not be identified, they knew that the person who had cut off the head must be an accomplice. Pharaoh was more determined than ever to catch the second thief. "Hang this body from the palace wall," he ordered. "Then watch day and night. If anyone tries to remove the body or is moved at the sight of it, arrest them at once." And so the brother's body was hung from the palace wall and when the mother heard what had happened, she could not be consoled. "If your brother is not given a proper burial he cannot go to the Land of the Blessed," she cried to her son. "You must fetch your brother's body, otherwise he will wander the earth as a ghost." "But mother," replied the son, "It will be certain death for me to touch the body. Besides which, we have already given his head a decent burial." But the mother kept on wailing over her elder son, and the younger brother realized he would have to try and retrieve his brother's corpse. Disguised as an old man, he led a donkey carrying two leather jars of wine past the palace walls. When he reached the spot where his brother's body was hanging, he made a hole in the bottom of one of the jars so that the wine leaked out. As soon as a pool began to form he shouted, "O, my precious wine. I am ruined, I am ruined." Attracted by the noise, the soldiers guarding the corpse, ran to the spot and demanded to know what was wrong. The brother, between his sobs, cried, "Look at my costly wine. The jar is leaking and soon it will all run out. I am ruined, but it would be better if you worthy men drank it than let it go to waste." The soldiers did not need much prompting, and very soon the leaking jar was empty. The brother then turned to the soldiers and said, "My good men, the other jar of wine is now useless, because my donkey will not be able to carry it without the other jar to balance the weight. So drink it and enjoy it." Never before had the soldiers heard such welcome words, and very soon the second jar was emptied, not knowing that the wine contained sufficient opium to drug a whole regiment. Soon the soldiers had collapsed in a drugged stupor. With the guards taken care of, the younger brother soon scaled the palace wall, then cutting down his brother's body, he put it across the back of the donkey and was away as fast as he could go. When Pharaoh heard what had happened, he was in a terrible rage.
The soldiers of the guard were flogged unmercifully, and then, the Pharaoh hit upon an idea which seemed certain to catch the culprit. He made his daughter, the beautiful Princess Royal, dress as a foreigner and sit in a tent outside the palace walls, after announcements had been made through the town, that a rich young maiden from foreign shores would wed the man who had committed the most daring and cunning deed. The younger brother guessed immediately that this was a trap laid to catch him. Yet, in his bravado, he wanted to show Pharaoh that he could outwit him. So he set out to meet this foreign maid, but on the way, he had to pass the gallows, so he cut off the arm of a dead man hanging there, and hid it in his clothing. On reaching the tent, he boldly entered and announced that he had come as a suitor. "Then," said the princess, "Tell me our tale of cunning and daring exploits," So the brother told her the complete story as to how he and his brother had robbed the treasury, and how he was forced to behead his brother, and how he had regained his brother's body from under Pharaoh's nose. The Princess realized that here was the thief her father so badly wanted to catch, and in her sweetest voice exclaimed, "Good sir, I am yours. Give me your brave hand." The brother, instead of offering her his own hand, quickly pushed forward the arm he had cut from the gallows. The Princess grasped the hand shrieking, "Guards! Guards! I have caught the thief." Leaving the princess holding a dead man's arm, the brother rushed out of the tent and was well away before the guards arrived. Pharaoh now acknowledged the young man's daring and issued a royal proclamation that the young man would not only be pardoned but would also be married to Princess Royal in recognization of his daring cleverness. The architect's younger son presented himself at court, where he was received with suitable honor, as befitting the future husband of the princess. And in time, he succeeded Rameses and became Pharaoh of Egypt.
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