He Kept Two Diamonds All for Himself

A Merchant wanted to purchase a gorgeous camel in the market and, after spotting one, began to settle the price for it with the seller. There was a long bargain between the merchant and the camel seller and finally the merchant bought the camel and took it home.

On reaching home, the merchant called his servant to take out the camel’s saddle. Under the saddle, the servant found a small velvet bag which, upon opening, was found to be full of precious diamond gems!

The servant shouted, “Boss, you bought a camel, but look what came with it for free!” The Merchant was also surprised as he saw diamonds in his servant’s hands, which were shining and twinkling even more in the sunlight!

The Merchant said: “I have bought a camel and not these diamonds; I should return them immediately” The servant thought, “How stupid of my boss…” He tried to advise his boss to keep all the precious stones with himself. The merchant however did not listen to him and immediately proceeded to the market. He promptly returned the velvet bag to the shopkeeper.

The camel seller was very happy, and said, “I had forgotten that I had hidden my precious stones under the saddle. Now you choose any one diamond as a reward”. The Merchant said, “I have paid the right price for the camel so I do not need any gift or prize”. The more the merchant kept refusing, the more the camel seller kept insisting. Finally, the merchant smiled and said, “In fact, when I decided to bring back the bag, I had already kept two of the most precious diamonds with me”

Upon hearing this confession, the camel seller got infuriated. He quickly emptied the bag and began to count his diamond gems. After checking and counting everything, with a heavy sigh of relief, he said, “These are all my diamonds; which two have you kept?”

The Merchant said, “My honesty and my self-respect.” The seller was dumb-struck. The merchant of unbelievable integrity said, “We have to look within ourselves to find out if we possess any of these two diamonds. Anyone with these, is the richest person in the world.”