the thief (Tale 26)

Role: thief · First appears: Tale 26 · The Robber and the Old Man

In Tale 26, the thief stole two bags of money from the rich gentleman. The gentleman suspected him but could not prove the theft, so he took the case to the judge. the wise man offered to help if the thief promised him half the money; the thief agreed, and the wise man advised him to feign madness in court. His repeated “Moo” answers led the judge to dismiss the court.

The next day, the thief refused to give the wise man his promised share, answering only “Moo” until the wise man went home without a penny. “The ungrateful robber kept everything for himself.”

Relationship record

Life events

• The thief stole two bags of money from the rich gentleman.(Tale 26 · The Robber and the Old Man · 📍 the gentleman’s room)
  • With: the rich gentleman (Tale 26)
  • “the thief caught up two of the bags and escaped.”
• The rich gentleman suspected the thief and took the case before the judge.(Tale 26 · The Robber and the Old Man · 📍 the house)
  • With: the rich gentleman (Tale 26)
  • “The dishonest man looked so confused that the rich man at once suspected he was the thief. He could not, however, prove it, so took the case before the judge.”
• The wise man undertook to help the thief if he promised him half the money.(Tale 26 · The Robber and the Old Man · 📍 the village)
  • With: the wise man (Tale 26)
  • “The wise man undertook to help him—if he would promise to pay him half the money when he got off.”
• The thief promised to pay the wise man half the money.(Tale 26 · The Robber and the Old Man · 📍 the village)
  • With: the wise man (Tale 26)
  • “This the robber at once said he would do.”
• The wise man advised the thief to feign madness in court.(Tale 26 · The Robber and the Old Man)
  • With: the wise man (Tale 26)
  • “The old man then advised him to go home and dress in rags. He must ruffle his hair and beard and behave as if he were mad.”
• The thief’s repeated “Moo” answers led the judge to dismiss the court.(Tale 26 · The Robber and the Old Man)
  • “The judge at last grew angry and dismissed the court.”
• The thief refused to pay the wise man his promised half of the stolen money.(Tale 26 · The Robber and the Old Man)
  • With: the wise man (Tale 26)
  • “But he could get no answer but ‘Moo’ from the thief, and at last, in despair, he had to go home without a penny. The ungrateful robber kept everything for himself.”

Tale 26 · The Robber and the Old Man

• enemies with the wise man (Tale 26) “The ungrateful robber kept everything for himself.”
• benefactor: the wise man (Tale 26) “The wise man regretted very much that he had saved the thief from his just punishment—but it was now too late.”
• enemies with the rich gentleman (Tale 26) “As soon as the old gentleman left the room to fetch something, the thief caught up two of the bags and escaped.”

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Extracted from the original text of West African Folk-Tales. Made with Rho MD.