Short Stories » The Old Man, His Young Wife and The Thief

The Old Man, His Young Wife and The Thief - Panchatantra Stories for Kids

Once, a rich merchant lived in a town. Even though he owned a big house, he lived alone. His wife died a few years ago due to an accident. He was a widower and had become an old man. He would feel lonely every day and even during the night. He, therefore, decided to get married again. He persuaded a poor old man and convinced him to give his daughter’s hand in marriage.

He finally got married to a young and beautiful girl. However, the young girl did not like the old merchant at all. She would not even look at him. She hated that he was very old. The old merchant would bring gifts, crack jokes and provide all the luxuries just to please his young wife. In spite of his best efforts, he was unable to make his wife like him. Finally, one day he realized that his young wife did not understand his love and affection towards him.

One night the couple was sleeping in their room. They both were sleeping on the sides of the bed, separately from each other. That night, when both husband and wife were fast asleep, a thief entered the room. Suddenly the wife woke up to the sound of a thief entering through the window. On concentrating on the noise, she realized that someone else has come inside the room. She steadily moved and hugged her husband tightly. The husband was elated, delighted at this action of his wife. However, he was also very surprised by his wife’s action.

“This may not be true affection. There must be some other reason also,” he thought. Suddenly, he saw a shadow emerging from behind the curtains. A big thief with a huge mustache with a terrifying smile emerged in front of the couple. The wife hid behind her husband and clasped on to her husband tightly. The thief had a big sharp knife in his hand and he showed it to the couple. The merchant, however, was unfazed. He rhetorically said “Oh dear thief!! Take whatever you want from the house. You don’t know what a mighty favor you have done to me.” The thief was very surprised by the offer and thought something was fishy and ran away. Meanwhile, his wife understood how much his husband loved her. She embraced his husband and displayed her never-ending love and affection thereon.

The next morning, the merchant was surprised to see the same thief. He came to the merchant and said, “Please let me know if you seek love and affection for your wife again. I will come to your house with a more terrifying look in the night.” The merchant laughed uncontrollably and gave him a bunch of gold coins as a reward for something he couldn’t have accomplished without the horrifying thief’s help. The thief happily went on his way and the couple lived on happily ever after.

MORAL: Sometimes your enemy can do some good to you.