The Tale of Dishonest Hob

It is said that two men, one named Habba and the other Mughaffal, decided to start a trading business together.

One day, outside the city, they found a purse on the road containing a thousand dinars.

They decided to return to the city immediately and, approaching the city wall, began to divide the money.

"Take half of this gold for yourself, and give the other half to me," Mughaffal said to Habba.

But Habba decided to keep all the money for himself.

"Let's not divide it," he replied to Mughaffal. "Each of us will take a little for expenses, and we'll bury the rest under a tree. This place is safe; when we need money, we'll come here and take as much as we need."

They took a small amount of money, buried the rest under a tree, and went back to the city. After some time, Habba returned to the tree alone, took all the buried dinars, and went back home.

A month later, Habba came to Mughaffal.

"Let's go and take some money for expenses," he said.

They went to the tree, started digging, but found nothing. Habba began to scold Mughaffal, pulling his beard and hitting him.

"You took the money! No one else knew about this place!" he shouted.

An angry Mughaffal, in turn, began to curse the unknown thief.

Then they went to the judge and told him their story.

"Can you prove the truth of your accusation?" the judge asked Habba.

"Yes," Habba replied. "The tree under which the dinars were buried will confirm that Mughaffal took the money."

The thing was, Habba had ordered his father to hide in the hollow of the tree and, if necessary, answer on behalf of the tree.

"Come with us to the tree," Habba said to the judge. And so the judge, Habba, and Mughaffal went to the tree. The judge asked a question, and the old man answered:

"Yes, Mughaffal took the dinars."

Hearing this answer, the judge was very surprised. He walked around the tree and noticed the edge of clothing sticking out of the hollow. He then ordered the tree to be set on fire. Sensing impending doom, Habba's father revealed himself and begged for help. The judge questioned him, and the old man told the whole truth. The judge took the dinars from Habba and gave them to Mughaffal, while punishing Habba.

More fairy tales

• The Black Mussel
• The Insight of the Bedouin
• The Tale of Abdallah the Land-Dweller and Abdallah the Sea-Dweller
• The Lazy Craftsman
• The Tale of Abu-Kir and Abu-Sir