Long ago, in a time when travelers walked dusty roads between scattered villages and strangers were met with both curiosity and caution, there lived a man whose lack of wisdom would soon cost him dearly. This man dwelt with his family in a small, modest house nestled near the main road that connected one settlement to another. Though his home was humble, he had managed to accumulate a few valuable possessions over the years, items he treasured and kept hidden away for safekeeping.
On this particular day, as the sun traced its path across the sky, a thief was making his way along that very same road. This was no ordinary traveler seeking honest work or friendly conversation. No, this man’s eyes were sharp and calculating, constantly searching for opportunity, always looking for someone to rob. He walked with the practiced ease of someone who knew how to read people, how to spot weakness, how to exploit the unsuspecting.
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An Unexpected Encounter
As the thief continued his journey, his keen eyes spotted a man coming from the direction of a small house visible just off the road. The thief’s interest was immediately piqued. Perhaps this man had something worth taking. Perhaps his home contained treasures waiting to be discovered. The thief quickened his pace and soon caught up with the stranger.
“Good day to you,” the thief called out, his voice friendly and casual, hiding his true intentions behind a mask of civility. “Tell me, do you live in that house over there?” He gestured toward the modest dwelling that stood in the distance.
The man turned to face him, showing no signs of suspicion or wariness. “Yes, I do,” he replied simply, his tone open and honest. “That is my family’s home.”
The thief smiled inwardly, sensing that this encounter might prove more profitable than he had hoped. With practiced charm, he made his move. “I am traveling far and need a place to rest for the night,” he said smoothly. “Would you be kind enough to bring me to your house? I would be most grateful to stay with your family tonight.”
Most people, when confronted with such a request from a complete stranger, would exercise caution. They would ask questions, assess the person’s character, perhaps politely decline or offer directions to a proper inn instead. But this man was different. Without hesitation or careful thought, he agreed.
The Foolish Revelation
What happened next was so astonishing, so incredibly unwise, that even the thief himself could barely believe his good fortune.
As they walked together toward the house, the foolish man suddenly turned to his guest with a worried expression. “Listen,” he said earnestly, as if sharing a concern with a trusted friend rather than a complete stranger, “if you go into my house tonight, please, I beg you, don’t steal the things that I have hidden around my home.”
The thief’s eyes widened slightly, but he kept his expression neutral, nodding sympathetically as if he completely understood such concerns.
But the foolish man wasn’t finished. In fact, he was just getting started.
With the kind of naive trust that defies all common sense, the man proceeded to reveal every single secret hiding place in his home. “You see, I keep my money buried beneath the large stone near the back wall,” he explained, gesturing as he spoke. “And my wife’s jewelry is hidden inside the old clay pot in the corner of our sleeping room. Oh, and we have some valuable cloth tucked away in the wooden chest under our bed.”
The thief listened in amazement, committing every detail to memory, scarcely able to believe that this man was voluntarily providing him with a complete map to all his treasures.
The foolish man continued, his voice taking on a slightly stern tone, as if a warning would somehow protect his possessions. “Please don’t take all of my valuable things,” he said seriously. “Because if you do steal from me, I want you to know that I’ll come looking for you. I’ll ask you to come back here so I can take all my things back from you. And then and this is important I’ll call all the people from the village, and they will kill you.”
He said this with such conviction, as if he truly believed that this threat would deter a thief who already knew exactly where everything was hidden.
The Inevitable Outcome
That night, after the foolish man and his family had fallen into deep sleep, the thief moved silently through the darkened house like a shadow. He went directly to each hiding place the man had so helpfully described. The money beneath the stone taken. The jewelry in the clay pot claimed. The valuable cloth in the wooden chest stolen. Everything of worth that the foolish man possessed disappeared into the thief’s bag.
By the time the first light of dawn began to creep over the horizon, the thief was already far down the road, his bag heavy with stolen goods, his heart light with satisfaction.
As he walked, he couldn’t help but laugh quietly to himself. He shook his head in wonder at his extraordinary luck. “I wish,” he said aloud to no one but the morning birds, “that I would always have a foolish man like this to steal from. Never in all my years of thieving have I encountered someone who made my work so easy!”
And indeed, the thief had spoken a profound truth. For what thief could ask for more than a victim who not only invited him into his home but also provided detailed instructions on how to rob him?
Back at the small house, the foolish man would soon wake to discover that all his warnings and threats had been meaningless. His treasured possessions were gone, taken by the very person he had told about them. His family would suffer because of his careless words and misplaced trust.
The Moral Lesson
This timeless folktale teaches us a crucial lesson about discretion and discernment: Never reveal your secrets or vulnerabilities to someone you don’t know or trust. The foolish man’s downfall came not from bad luck or superior thievery, but from his own unwise decision to share sensitive information with a stranger. True wisdom lies in knowing when to speak and when to remain silent, whom to trust and whom to keep at a distance. Our words have power, and careless speech can invite disaster into our lives. Trust must be earned over time through proven character and consistent behavior, it should never be given freely to strangers, no matter how friendly they may seem.
Knowledge Check
1. What was the thief searching for when he met the foolish man in this African folktale? A: The thief was walking along the road actively looking for someone to rob. When he spotted the man coming from a nearby house, he saw an opportunity and decided to approach him, hoping to find valuable items to steal.
2. Why did the foolish man invite the thief into his home? A: When the thief asked for a place to stay for the night, the foolish man immediately agreed without exercising any caution or questioning the stranger’s intentions, demonstrating a dangerous lack of judgment that would prove costly.
3. What critical mistake did the foolish man make that led to his downfall? A: The foolish man voluntarily revealed all his secret hiding places to the thief, telling him exactly where he kept his money, his wife’s jewelry, and other valuable possessions. He essentially provided the thief with a complete inventory and map of everything worth stealing.
4. How did the foolish man attempt to protect his possessions? A: The foolish man tried to protect his belongings through verbal warnings and threats, telling the thief not to steal and threatening to hunt him down and have the villagers kill him if he did. However, these empty threats were meaningless once the thief knew where everything was hidden.
5. What lesson about trust does this folktale teach? A: This African folktale emphasizes that trust should never be given freely to strangers, and that we must guard our secrets carefully. The story teaches that revealing sensitive information to someone unproven can lead to our own destruction, and that discretion is essential for protecting ourselves and our families.
6. What does the thief’s final statement reveal about the foolish man’s behavior? A: When the thief wished he could “always have a foolish man like this to steal from,” it highlighted just how extraordinarily unwise the man’s actions were. The statement emphasizes that the man made the thief’s job incredibly easy by doing everything wrong, inviting danger in, revealing secrets, and trusting blindly.
Source: Traditional Somali folktale
