The Apprentice Thief: How a Boy Outwitted His Uncle - A Middle Eastern Folk Tale

Once upon a time, in a small village, there lived a young boy with his mother. His father had passed away, leaving them to fend for themselves. The boy's uncle, seeing their struggles, came to visit one day with an unusual proposal.

"Come, nephew," the uncle said with a glint in his eye. "I shall teach you the art of thievery, so you may never go hungry again."

The boy, young and eager to learn, agreed to his uncle's teachings. One day, while practicing their craft, they spotted a man riding a donkey and leading a plump sheep behind him on a rope.

The boy turned to his uncle with a mischievous smile. "Uncle, watch me steal that sheep!"

"Go ahead," his uncle replied with a chuckle. "And if you're truly clever, bring me the donkey too!"

Quick as a shadow, the boy crept up behind the traveler and cut the rope holding the sheep. His uncle quickly led the animal away while the boy hid in the bushes. When the traveler finally noticed his missing sheep, he tied his donkey to a tree and went searching through the countryside.

Seizing his chance, the boy stole the donkey too. But he didn't stop there – he cut off the donkey's ears and cleverly stuck them up in the shallow water by the seashore, making it appear as though the donkey had sunk into the sea.

When the traveler returned and found his donkey missing, he followed the tracks to the shore. There, he spotted what appeared to be his donkey's ears sticking up from the water. Frantically, he waded in and pulled, only to find nothing but the severed ears. Terrified, he ran away in fright.

The boy, still not finished with his tricks, followed the frightened man. When the traveler stopped to relieve himself by the roadside, the boy snuck up and played an even cleverer trick. The man jumped up in terror, crying, "Oh! The demons have come for me!" and ran away even faster than before.

Returning to his uncle with both the sheep and donkey, the boy asked innocently, "Uncle, shall you slaughter the sheep, or would you prefer to gather wood for the fire?"

"I'll gather the wood," his uncle replied, heading into the forest.

While his uncle was away, the clever boy killed the sheep and inflated its empty skin like a waterskin. When his uncle returned, the boy began beating the inflated skin with a stick, crying out, "Not I, but my uncle! Not I, but my uncle!"

Hearing these shouts and thinking he was being blamed for the theft, the uncle fled in fear, leaving both the sheep and the donkey to the boy. Triumphant in his clever tricks, the boy took both animals home to his mother, ensuring they would have food and transportation for many days to come.

And so the student outmatched his teacher, proving that cleverness, when used wisely, can turn even misfortune into good fortune. From that day forward, the boy used his wit to help his mother prosper, though perhaps in more honest ways, and they lived comfortably ever after.

The tale spread through the village and beyond, and people would often say that while it's not right to steal, it's even worse to teach a child to be a thief – for you never know when their cleverness might exceed your own!