Section 1
A few years ago, two merchants who were companions in the same enterprise—a Hindoo and a Mahomedan—lived together. The Mahomedan was called Saneesara, and the Hindoo was called Eesara. They had once been incredibly wealthy, but as hard times struck, their firm suffered, and they progressively fell into poverty.
Caneesara once visited Eesara's home and begged for help, saying, "Lend us something—a little cash, or some grain, or some bread—we have nothing at all to eat."
"You are not in a worse situation than we are, my friend," Eesara responded. "We are completely materially poor. What else can I offer?" Caneesara's visit was ineffective as a result, and he left empty-handed just as he had arrived.
"All we have is a brass plate and a solitary brass cup," Eesara told his wife after he left. "Given how valuable the plate is, wrap it in a net for protection and hang it from the roof over our beds. You should also fill the plate with water so that if Caneesara breaks into the house to take it while we are asleep, the water will spill on our faces and we will be awakened."
Caneesara, who was aware of the brass plate, made the decision to try to obtain it that very evening. So, when his fellow inmates had gone to bed, he went to Eesara's house and quietly opened the door lock to sneak inside the house. He noticed the dish hanging in a net over the beds there in the dim moonlight, but being a shrewd person and anticipating a ruse, he first poked his forefinger through the net and saw that the plate was filled with water. He carefully dropped some sand into the plate while being extremely careful to avoid being seen until all of the water had been absorbed. Once he had done so, he cautiously removed the plate from the net and ran with it.
On the way home, he decided that the best thing to do would be to hide the plate for a little while until he had a chance to sell it. Consequently, he went to a tank, wade into it, and buried it in the mud. To indicate the location, he inserted a long reed that he had plucked from the margin. Then, completely delighted with his accomplishment, he returned home and went to bed.
Eesara missed the plate the following morning and cried out, "O wife, Caneesara has been here. He has taken the plate."
He immediately went to his friend's house and looked everywhere, but he came back home knowing nothing more. He headed outside to the tank for his regular bath since the day was nearly over. He approached the water's edge and remarked, "Hello! It was not around yesterday," he said when he noticed the lone reed bobbing in the wind. "This is one of Caneesara's tricks." He wade into the water and, to his pleasure, found his missing plate. He then carried it home to his wife, but he didn't touch the suspicious reed.
After a few days, Caneesara arrived at the tank and waded out to his reed to start searching through the mud for the metal plate. He sighed and said, "Eesara has been here. Ah!" He went back to his residence and smoked his hookah, frustrated and angry.
"My friend Eesara, we are both in the most awful of a situation as we can be," Caneesara said to his partner when he returned to see him. "Let's now travel together to a different country, bring our account books along, and try to make some money there by whatever means necessary." Eesara accepted this suggestion, and the two friends then left on their journey.
They arrived in a city where a wealthy merchant had recently passed away after a tiresome journey. Upon investigation, they learned that his corpse had been burned and that his remains had been properly placed to rest in a particular location. Then, using the ledgers he had carried with him from his house, Eesara ingeniously increased the sum owed to the defunct merchant to forty thousand rupees by manipulating them. When night fell, the two friends went to the location of the grave and dug a chamber, where Caneesara hid himself while Eesara covered him with objects and earth. In other words, Eesara handled his task so expertly that no one would have known in the morning that the earth had been disturbed at all. Prepared with his account documents, Eesara instantly went to the home of the recently deceased merchant's sons and informed them that he was a partner in the business. "Both your father and your grandfather were in debt to the residence of which I am a partner. The entire amount owed to us is forty thousand rupees, and immediate payment is needed."
The sons initially made an effort to push through. "Not a farthing do we owe you. Why wasn't this vile claim submitted earlier?" they declared.
Eesara answered, "The claim is true, and the money is owed in full. I make a prayer to your late father. Let him make the decision. I call upon you to join me at his burial place."
