There
lived a King who was caring for his countrymen. People were very happy and
co-operative with the king and his administration. King was always thinking of
making people comfortable and happy.
After
some years, thieves started their act of stealing gold and other ornaments.
This created worry and tension among people. They were unable to concentrate on
their daily work. Many people complained this to the king.
King
started thinking about this problem.
He thought
"It takes some time to
catch hold of thieves and so, there must be a short time solution".
He
announced a new law.
The law was like this:
"All the people of his kingdom
should register their gold and other ornaments with the ministry of the king. Then
the valuation of each ornament will be done by experts. If there is stolen, the
amount equivalent to the lost ornament will be given to the loser, on
confirmation of the theft".
People
happily registered everything that the rule permitted. Those ornaments were
valued and the records were given to the people. King's office kept a copy of
the records.
People
were very much satisfied with the correct and impartial valuations of their
ornaments .Their worry was no longer there. Again they started doing their work
with enthusiasm. They were all happy and so, the King was also happy.
Theft:
After 4 days, the first incidence of theft
happened. The person who lost the ornaments complained to the king and gave all
the details. King's Servants came and searched the whole house; this was a part
of the procedure. Then it was confirmed that the ornament is missing.
Then the
owner of the ornament signed a declaration stating like this: "To the best
of my knowledge, the ornament is not with any of my relatives and friends. Also,
if found in such places, I will pay 10 times the value of the ornament to the
King"
After
the detailed investigations, money was released to the loser. He was extremely
happy. Others were also happy on hearing this because, after the release of
fund to the loser, they were very sure of getting the money for a loss like
that.
Gradually,
after about two months, the incidences of theft started increasing.
After three months, theft increased to three
folds, compared that before the implementation of the rule!
King
began to worry but people never worried because they were actually not losing
almost anything!
King
called a few top level ministered and discussed this. Then they decided to
travel through the kingdom one night and one day, but in disguise.
Accordingly,
the king and two ministers went round the kingdom in one night. To their
surprise, they noticed that in some houses, main doors were kept open! They
also noticed that some boxes of ornaments were kept near the open window. This
never seemed to them as carelessness. They suspected that it has been done with
a purpose. But the king and ministers were unable to guess the secret behind
this act of the people.
Next
time, they went round kingdom during the day, again in disguise. They had noted
down the houses in which doors were kept open and the houses in which boxes
containing the ornaments were kept near open window. They
went to one such house and inquired about it.
Then the owner of the house said (to
the king who had dressed himself as a stranger)
“Our king is good but he is not
intelligent. He made a rule of giving money for lost ornaments. So, we want our
ornaments to be stolen!”
King:
“But what benefit will you get out of it?”
Owner:
“Thief will steal our ornaments. King will give back our money. Then the thief
will give 50% of the money of the ornament to us. So, we are making a profit in
this process”
King:
“What is the advantage for the thief? Why should he give 50% of the value back?
After all, thieves are thieves. How can you believe them?”
Owner:
“If he stops giving that, we will close our doors; then it will be very
difficult for him to steal anything. So, they give. Also, thieves in our
kingdom are honest, my neighbor got money 5 days back”.
King
and ministers came back. They felt that it was a big puzzle for them to solve.
King called the ministers again for a meeting.
Guess
the next part of the story! What will the king do?
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