The tale of the Brahmin and the Crooks is one of the stories from the Panchatantra. It takes place in a small village where a Brahmin resided, who was an ardent worshipper of the fire god. One bright day, as clouds gathered in the sky, the Brahmin decided to perform a ritual for the deities.
He set off to a nearby village to visit a devoted follower, seeking a goat to sacrifice in honor of the gods. Upon arriving at the devotee’s home, he requested a well-nourished goat that he intended to offer as a sacrifice during an auspicious moment.
Upon listening to him, the devotee consented to the request and presented the Brahmin with one of his finest goats. Grateful for the gift, the Brahmin made his way home, carrying the goat on his shoulder for convenience.
As he traveled back to his village, he encountered a slight challenge. A group of thieves observed him from a distance. Starving and eyeing the goat, they plotted how to snatch it away from the Brahmin.
Then the thieves planned a trick on how to steal a goat from the Brahmin, who was on a journey. They realized that the Brahmin was stranded and hence was the right time for action that they had planned. The crooks reasoned that they had to go for deception to blind the Brahmin and at the same time make away with his goat.
Lastly, to bring out the plan the first of the thieves decided to lay an ambush by choosing a shortcut in an attempt to catch the Brahmin while he was on his way. While the Brahmin was walking down the road with the goat across his shoulder, the thief planned to attack him.
Only when he arrived at the Brahmin, did he decide to act stupid and walk to him with mockery. ”What is with the change?” He asked me this and that, faking to be shocked. The thief also asked the Brahmin about what he was carrying.
The Brahmin became very irate at this point and asked the crook why he couldn’t distinguish between a dog and a goat. Was the criminal blind, he wondered. He explained to the rascal that he was bringing a goat as a sacrifice.
Following his performance, the first thief expressed regret to the Brahmin and requested that he continue his journey. The crook apologized and then departed from the Brahmin. The second crook stopped the Brahmin after he had been walking for some time.
While returning to his own village, the Brahmin met the second thief. The thief asked the Brahmin how he was able to carry a dead calf on his shoulder not minding that he ought to be ashamed of it. The Brahmin became very angry and the thief before him asked if the Brahmin was blind; presently he had a goat on his shoulder, not a dead calf.
The second thief also pretends to be repentant and asked for forgiveness from the Brahmin and urged him to go on.
When the second crook left the Brahmin, the third crook approached the Brahmin. The third crook approached the Brahmin and asked him why he would do something as improper as that. He asked the Brahmin why he would carry a donkey on his shoulder and told him to put it down before anyone could see him.
This made the Brahmin think about how three different people would not see that he was carrying only a goat. The Brahmin thought that he saw a goblin which took the shape of different people. This scared the Brahmin and so he thought of putting the goat down.
After putting the goat down, the Brahmin left and the crooks took the goat. Once the three crooks realized the Brahmin had abandoned the goat, they hurried over and seized it. They celebrated and they ate the goat to their heart’s content.