The Old Merchant and the Thief

In a certain city lived an old merchant named Kamatura whose wife had died. Tormented by desire, he paid a great sum to a poor merchant and married his daughter.

But the girl found no pleasure even in looking at the old man; she was miserable and kept her face turned from him. His body was bent, his walk unsteady, his teeth gone, his sight dim, his mouth wet — and even his own relatives paid him no attention.

One night she was lying on that bed with her back to him when a thief got into the house. At the sight of the thief the young woman shook with fear, and in her fright threw her arms tightly round her old husband.

The old man's whole body thrilled. "Why is she embracing me tonight?" He looked carefully and saw the thief in a corner of the room — and understood: "It is out of fear of him that she is clinging to me."

So he said to the thief: "She who always shrank from me is embracing me tonight. Bless you, benefactor — take whatever I have."

The thief answered: "I can see nothing here worth taking; if there is anything, tell me. And if she ever stops embracing you, I shall come again."

So even a thief became a benefactor — how much more, then, one who comes asking for shelter.

या ममोद्विजते नित्यं सा मामद्यावगूहते । प्रियकारक भद्रं ते यन्ममास्ति हरस्व तत् ॥

Moral: She who always shrank from me is embracing me tonight. Bless you, benefactor — take whatever I have.

From the Panchatantra, Book III — Of Crows and Owls.