Once upon a time, in the kingdom of Persia, there was a beautiful

glittering palace. Unfortunately, the beauty of the palace was tainted by the

mysterious theft. No matter how well you guarded your jewels you were going

to lose it. No one knew who the thief was. The mysterious missing of the jewels

soon became a grapevine throughout the kingdom. The people believe that

the palace was cursed.

The rumors then reached the king ears. He felt so mad and angry. He

decided to solve the mysteries. The King asked his servant to announce his

word troughout the kingdom. Whoever could solve the mystery will be

rewarded.

In a small village nearby the kingdom, there was a smart young man,

Stefan who worked as a shepherd. He heard the news and off he went to the

palace with a few healthy sheep. When he reached the palace he asked for

King Romano.

He then was brought to see the king. Stefan told the king that he would

like to try to solve the mystery. He requested the king to let him staying in the

palace for a few days. He spent some days there, watching and listening, until

there was another theft. The following morning, Stefan asked the king to throw

a feast. He sloughtered the sheep then had them cooked. He then invited all

the people in the palace to the feast. All of them ate the meal happily. But

suddenly, one of the gardeners began coughing, writhing and moaning, and

finally he fell to the floor.

Stefan, with a big smile, explained that the food they had just eaten was

poisoned, and the only antidote for this poison was hidden inside the ruby that
had been stolen the previous night. And he explained how, some days earlier,

he himself had swapped some false rubies for the genuine ones.

The coughs and groans spread around the room, and terror took hold of

all present. All except one person. The butler didnt take long to run over to

where he had hidden the jewels. He believed that he would be able to save his

life after he drink the antidote.

But the truth was, the gardener was only pretended to be sick under the king's

order and there was no poison at all. And the thief, now found out, was

arrested by the guards and taken immediately to court. Stefan had solve the

mystery.

The King, generously rewarded Stefan as promissed. The King asked him what

his secret was, Stefan smiled and said:

-I only try to get the person knowing the truth to reveal that truth.

-And who knew it? If the thief had deceived everyone

-No, your majesty, not everyone. Anyone can deceive everyone, but no one

can deceive themselves.

From this story we learn that, we can deceive everyone but we cannot deceive

ourselves. Thank you.