There is a legend in the region of Punjab, about a thief who broke into a farm and stole two hundred onions. But before he could make his escape, he was caught by the farmer and led before the judge.
The magistrate past sentence: the payment of ten gold pieces.
But the man alleged that the fine was too high, so the judge offered him two alternatives: to be whipped twenty times, or eat the two hundred onions.
The thief chose to eat the two hundred onions.
When he had eaten twenty-five, his eyes were already filled with tears, and his stomach was burning up like the fires of hell.
Since there were still 175 to go, and he knew he would never bear this punishment, he begged to be thrashed twenty times.
The judge agreed. But when the whip tore into his back for the tenth time, he implored for the punishment to be stopped, for he could not stand the pain.
His wish was granted, but the thief still had to pay the ten pieces of gold.
- If you had accepted the fine, you would have avoided eating the onions and wouldn’t have suffered with whip – said the judge.
- But you preferred the more difficult path, not understanding that, when you have done wrong, it is better to pay up quickly and forget the matter.
{ 114 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
Repent and turn thats all my Jesus says
funny… very…more so cos im punjabi by occupation.. :)
Who is the real thief here- the poor man who had to steal for money or the king who rather than reforming the man just gave him whips and tears. The same applies for today’s judicial system. Sometimes the perpetrators are victims too.
In Punjabi, there is a saying based on this story “SAU GANDAY, TAY SAU CHITTAR”. (100 onions and 100 shoe lashes), meaning bearing double punishment for the same crime.
Las culpas, son las piedras en nuestro camino que no nos deja avanzar. Dejemos de comer cebollas o de pegarnos con el látigo errar es de humano, y mientras llevemos en nuestras espaldas el peso de lo que hemos hecho mal, no llegaremos nunca a ver lo que hemos hecho bien. La vida es un ratico como dice Juanes, aprendamos a perdonarnos y liberar el alma de ataduras.
Paulo , vc me parece ser um ser humano sensível e isso me faz admirar-lhe.
Algumas pessoas querem que os outros sejam perfeitos , e ninguém nesse mundo é perfeito. Adorei o conto assim como adoro tudo que vc escreve , pois faz pensar, buscar o melhor , desejar o bem próprio e admirar toda beleza do grande mistério que é a vida . Que a vida seja generosa contigo sempre . Abs :]
El magistrado debe saber que el látigo ya no se usa. Estamos en el mundo de las multas o trabajo social para pagar lo que se llevo ilícitamente. Y sino quiere asi que lo encierren hasta ponerse a paz y salvo.
la moraleja para mí es:”entre más rápidamente admites tus errores éstos te cuestan menos, y lo mejor: te perdonas más rápidamemente”
gracias Paulo
caro Paulo io parlo con dio e con l universo ma non ho fortuna in amore..sono appena riistata sedotta e abbandonata illusa…vorrei conquistare l uomo che mi ha lasciato..uno stregone mi disse che era la mia meta”’…sto’ malissimo…..cosa devo fare ho paura che lui mi respinga nuovamente ti voglio bene francesca
Hola me gusta muchos los libros q escribe pero no c ingles y quisiera saber lo que esta escrito
utilize la bandera de Espana en la barra lateral >>>>
pago por el hurto
pago por terco y
por mezquino
Stealing Onions…through the centuries…
Kwaku E. sentenced to 5 YEARS jail by Aflao Circuit Court after pleading guilty to stealing onions…November 12, 2011 (Ghana News Agency)
2008 Guatemala : 2 police officers caught stealing onions from local farmer….they agreed to pay compensation of 5000 quetzales (about $666) and no charges were made against them…
Bakersville, Ca
On 7-06-10, Elizar M. from L. pled guilty to stealing four-75 pound bags of onions and twenty watermelons. M. also pled guilty to D.U.I. and was sentenced to sixty days in jail, five years’ probation and his California Driver’s License was suspended for six months… (D.U.I driving under influence)
Kwaku got the worst sentence….almost like the 7 years John Walker got back in 1874 for Grand larceny…the onions he stole were worth 5 shillings (in 1874).
Onions anyone????
that is about making a wrong choice….or what?:)))
Stealing or … ‘cheating’ , really, does not make us …. richer! Even if we are not ‘caught’ or punished, I am sure that from the ‘moment’ we have ‘thought’ of doing those ‘crimes’ we are in the .. ‘process ‘ of the “YES or NO”. It is our ‘FREE WILL’ to decide what to do, but I also believe it may be Karma and old … debts! So just … stand ‘still’ and THINK! Put our LOGIC and WISDOM on the … ‘table’ and think of the consequences. It is always ‘wiser’ the … prevention of something by our CONSCIENCE, than to be ‘obliged’ by our own decisions and actions to have to face the .. punishment and .. humiliation, but the feelings of quilt. Still, reading the story I could not prevent myself from thinking of … ‘The miserables’ and Emil
(sorry my comment was submitted by mistake, before I had finished) !! :-)) The ‘I accuse’, and the film the ‘Green mile” where the System has found quilty innocent people.
Blessings.
LOVE,
Thelma xxx
http://www.marxists.org/archive/zola/1898/jaccuse.htm P.s. This is meant to be, just one comment!! Thank you. T. xxx
I ‘m totally agree with you Thelma, sometimes the mistake is not really. This is a fault at an angle of view, or unfairness another view. However, it is necessary to carry out its errors in all societies. Even when this is done, some people take care of you reminds your mistakes, during the rest of your life.
What is it that money can’t buy but you look for it when you have all the money in the world??? Find That…
Love
Coolguy1609, when the person who have everything do not have love, not only he won’t be able to buy it, but he won’t know that he needs it.
A story that makes us think more in taking our decisions and live in with our choices.
In swedish:
40 sek läsning: Att betala 3 gånger för samma sak
Det finns en legend i Punjab regionen, om en tjuv som bröt sig in på en gård och stal 200 lökar. Men innan han kunde fly blev han tillfångatagen av lantbrukaren och fördes inför rätten.
Domaren dömde mannen att betala tio guldmynt.
Men mannen hävdade att böterna var för höga, så domaren gav honom två alternativ: att piskas tjugo gånger eller äta de två hundra lökarna.
Tjuven valde att äta de tvåhundra lökarna.
När han hade ätit tjugofem, var hans ögon redan fyllda med tårar och hans mage brann som av elden från helvetet.
Eftersom det fortfarande fanns 175 kvar och han visste att han aldrig skulle klara av detta straff, bad han att få de tjugo rappen.
Domaren gick med på detta. Men när piskan slitit i hans rygg för tionde gången, bönföll han att straffet skulle stoppas, för han kunde inte stå ut med smärtan.
Hans önskan beviljades, men tjuven var ändå tvungen betala de tio guldmynten.
– Om du hade accepterat böterna, skulle du ha undvikit att äta lök och du skulle inte ha lidit under piska – sa domaren.
– Men du föredrog den svårare vägen, och att inte förstå att när du har gjort fel, är det bättre att betala snabbt och glömma bort saken.
I original postad här: http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2012/01/05/paying-for-the-same-thing-three-times/
Paulo Coelho på svenska: http://www.facebook.com/PauloCoelhoSverige
Översättning: oLaVie (kommentera gärna)
…cushion?!
and of course, the judge was a woman :) Those ancient thiefs were so durable – he was able to take anything because of onions? LOL LOL LOL Paulo Coelho you are certainly my fav agent provocateur! …another famous thief story:
Ryokan (1758-1831) – One tale is told that, one day when Ryokan returned to his hut he discovered a robber who had broken in and was in the process of stealing the impoverished monk’s few possessions. In the thief’s haste to leave, he left behind a cushion. Ryokan grabbed the cushion and ran after the thief to give it to him. This event prompted Ryokan to compose one of his best known poems:
The thief left it behind:
the moon
at my window.
… the best advice for handling the thief :) any woman’s thief:
- cushion?!
CADA UNO D TUS LIBROS TIENEN LA CARACTERISTICA D TRANSPORTARME A LUG IMAGINABLES, SON REALMENTE SORPRENDENTES Y LO MEJOR DE ELLO K PUEDES LEERLO AUNK YA CONOSCAS LA HISTORIA NO DEJAN DE SER INTERESANTES. GRACIAS
UN FUERTE Y SINCERO ABRAZO
As for me, the man is right. One can think he pays three times. But for me, he just pays once. As the judge gives him the choice, he tries each. He understands himself his limits.
It’s quite funny how many people’s comment refer to themselves in a position as victim. I wonder what it is about this particular story that makes someone think about the wrongs done to them.
As I see it, not very many have chosen to see the farmer as the victim; he was after all the one who was stolen from. Was his farm not the oasis of his childhood until he, too, was burgaled?
I think about karma when I read this tale; one day, one way or the other, I will be called on to pay my bill; why not do it now?
Good blog.
Get knowledge about yourselves for the purpose of maximizing your potential and avoiding costly mistakes which will tamper the happiness in your present and future.
Experience is simply the best for human beings.
Sometimes it is healthy to experience the darkness and just walk through it, often we are not given permission to do so. We want to walk around it, be rescued from it, or even ignore it.
We must learn to embrace these dark times as part of a meaningful for finding wholeness.
In our brokeness we discover our for healing
Well said Sibongile.
“For every action there is a reaction which compounds on the direction of the original action.”
ΩΡΑΙΑ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ,ΕΠΙΛΟΓΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΔΥΝΑΤΟΤΗΤΕΣ .ΤΟ ΘΕΜΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ
ΝΑ ΓΝΩΡΙΖΕΙΣ ΕΚ ΤΩΝ ΠΡΟΤΕΡΩΝ ΤΙ ΜΠΟΡΕΙς ΝΑ ΑΝΤΕΞΕΙς ΩΣΤΕ ΝΑ ΑΠΟΦΥΓΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΤΡΙΠΛΗ ΠΛΗΡΩΜΗ .
Romans 13:1–5
13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, 4 for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, tan avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
Yes Valeria but the nature of the thief was exploring a life taken from others instead of creating the goods himself. He was oviously ignorant to that universal law.
c’est pas mes oignons.
merci pour la lecon.
this is the exact meaning of people see things the way they are shaped through their experience….everyone’s got a point and it’s all awesome
*LIKE
This came at the right moment…for the act of cheating and for not accepting the punishment even though he was given a free will to choose which one suited the crime he did…he tasted it all and more.
Yes Hazel I agree, when there is a crime punishment has to take place too.
wonderful.
Thanks for a nice story.This is just one of the tens of thousands of stories we have (india). If you want to know more u are always welcome.(mail me)
Hey Ravindra,
You say you know more stories.
Can you send these to me, or tell me where I can find them?
Thank you!
Jashvant
Well, at least the thief had the chance to choose the punishment. A lot of us don’t, and have to eat all the onions, got whipped and still have to pay the 10 pieces of gold.
My fiancee is serving time due to a crime he didn’t commit but took part of, therefore he’s incarcerated for conspiracy…..the price him and I and the entire family is paying is 7 thousands greater then the actual “crime” itself…..
*We found ourselves to have spent 15 000$ in lawyers
*I discovered to be pregnant 1 week after his incarceration which led to have missed the birth of our first child
*We spent 10.000$ in commissary annually
*I was hospitalized 12 times due to exhaustation
*I was suggested to live with his family while sick and pregnant who turned out to be the wickedest people i have ever encountered, who abused a pregnant and scared woman financially and emotionally and physically
*Left the country and went back to my country being rescued by my family and lost all my material belongings
*And now having to deal with the psychological trauma of all that had happened
All of this for a very petty crime
WE CAN CHANGE THE LAWS OF MAN BUT NOT THE LAWS OF GOD
Santa Maria, life has Consequences.
The other day I was asking a young man for his astrological sign. He did not know what I was talking about.
I proceeded to explain to him the importance of knowing what took place in the day of his birth, such things like;
- An astrological sign was assigned to him.
- With his sign and my Formula he will be able to find the right woman for himself.
- This knowledge will help him tremendously. His chances of getting divorced by choosing the wrong woman for him will diminish greatly.
- By not getting divorce he will save alimony provably by thousands of dollars.
- His kids will have a father full time, and they will be much happier.
- Since his kids will be happier they will not have a need to get into drugs.
- Since the kids will not become drug addicts, they will not end in jail.
- His wife will be much happier too; therefore she will not have a need to get additional happiness by buying material things to compensate for unfulfilled emotions, and therefore saving enormous amounts of money.
- Since the couple is saving so much money, they can take additional vacations which will add more happiness to their lives.
- Since the amount of happiness is reaching very high levels, his mind and her mind will come up with great ideas and these ideas will bring them more money and more happiness.
- Etc. etc. etc.
In other words; “For every action there is a reaction which compounds on the direction of the original action.”
This means;
- If you are unhappy – you end up taking drugs in one form or another.
- If you are happy – you mind will function better and ultimately you will find ways to live a happier life.
So, young folks, the message here is; “Get knowledge about yourselves for the purpose of maximizing your potential and avoiding costly mistakes which will tamper the happiness in your present and future.”
Very nice again.
← Previous Comments