Once upon a time there lived a king in a far away country. He was very rich. There were numerous diamonds and other precious stones in his personal collection.

One morning, when he woke up, the king discovered that his diamond ring was missing. It was there on his finger when he went to bed the previous night. He called his men and asked them to search for the ring. The servants searched every nook and corner of the palace, but they could not locate the ring.

Then it must have been stolen, the king thought. He remembered that the ring was on his finger when he went to sleep. So the theft must have occurred while he was sleeping. Only his personal attendants were with him during the night.

The king summoned them and asked who among them had stolen his ring. Each one of them denied the charge. Our king was wise. He realized that he would have to employ some tricks to make them tell the truth. So he told them that he would catch the thief with the help of some magic. He gave them each a stick one foot long. The men were puzzled. They looked at each other’s eyes. The king then said that the thief’s stick will be an inch longer the next morning. They were then ordered to depart. The men left the court.

The next morning he called them again and began to examine the sticks. One man’s stick was one inch shorter. The other sticks were the same length.

“How is it that your stick is one inch shorter today?” the king asked him. Frightened, the man could not reply anything. “You cut short because you feared that it would grow an inch taller. Right?” the king further asked. The man confessed that he had stolen the ring.

The king ordered his soldiers to put the man in prison.