English for Students

The Clever Merchant

The Clever Merchant :


One rainy night, two men entered a guest house to rent rooms. There was only one vacant room. So, both of them had to settle to share it. Actually one of them was a thief and the other was a rich diamond merchant. The thief had been following the merchant for sometime. The merchant was carrying a lot of cash and precious diamonds with him. When the guest house owner gave the same room to both of them, the thief’s heart filled with joy.


Both of them kept their luggage in the room. A few minutes later, the merchant went out for dinner. The thief searched through the merchant's luggage, but he did not find any diamonds. Soon the merchant returned and both of them went to sleep.


Next morning the thief asked the merchant, "Sir, I am a thief. I was trying to steal your diamonds. But I did not find them in your bag."


The merchant smiled and said, "The diamonds are kept in your bag. I knew that you would never search there."

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