The Wise Emperor

The Wise Emperor

One day, a wise emperor ordered his servants to bring him his grape juice in his favourite silver bowl. Besides being a treasured gift from the emperor’s father, the bowl also reminded him of his victory in an important battle. He seldom used it, only taking it out for special occasions and then returning it to the storeroom. It was a special treasure indeed.

Not long after, the chief servant reported nervously that the emperor’s silver bowl was missing. He explained to the emperor that all the servants had searched everywhere for it but it was nowhere to be found. Upon hearing that, the emperor blew his top. He wondered which one of his servants had taken it. None of his advisors could offer any meaningful advice to him.

Determined to find the bowl, the emperor came up with a clever idea. He called for all his servants to meet him in the hall. There, he gave each of them a wooden stick which was ten centimetres long. Then he told them calmly, “I want all of you to take one of these. This is a special stick. The stick taken by the thief will grow one centimetre longer overnight.”

Later that night, the guilty thief shortened the stick by one centimetre so that no one would know he had stolen the bowl. The next morning, the emperor gathered all his servants and examined their sticks. He pointed at the thief and shouted triumphantly at him, “You have stolen my silver bowl!”