A wealthy Arab once lost a piece of gold. He was sure: that
the thief was a member of his own house-hold. In spite of trying hard, he failed
to find him out then he hit upon a plan. He called all the servants before him
and told them that he was going to use magic to find out the thief. Then he
gave each of them a piece of stick exactly of the same length. He told them to
keep the sticks carefully under their pillows at night. Nothing would happen to
the stick of the innocent person. But the stick of the guilty person would grow
by one inch at night. The Arab told them to return the sticks to him the
following day. Now the guilty servant thought that his stick might have grown
by one inch at night. So without consulting anybody he cut off one inch from an
end of his stick and returned it to their master. But his stick was found one
inch shorter than the other ones. So the Arab said, “You are the thief”. The
servant admitted his guilt and begged forgiveness of the Arab. He also promised
that he would never steal in life. The Arab forgave him.