The Thief and the Honest Man

Once, a thief decided to take legal action against his accomplices, seeking to recover his share of the loot they had stolen from an Honest Man. As part of his case, he insisted that the Honest Man come to court to testify about the loss he had suffered.

However, the Honest Man explained that his involvement was minimal; he was merely the agent for a group of other honest men, and therefore, it was not his concern to attend the trial. When the court officers arrived to serve him with a subpoena, he cleverly concealed himself, avoiding their attempts to summon him.

As he hid away, he passed the time during the long hours of inactivity by amusing himself with a rather peculiar pastime—picking his own pockets. In this way, he managed to divert his attention from the troubles that surrounded him, all while remaining blissfully detached from the thief's predicament.