once there were four hermits meditating in a hermitage with their backs to backs a their faces turning out in all four directions. One day, a Brahman wanted to leave ten thousand Damloeungs of gold with the four hermits. The hermits told the Brahman to put his gold in the middle of the hermitage and then he left. A little long while later, one of the four hermits stole the gold without the three others' knowledge. Later on the Brahman who was the owner of the gold came to take the gold back from the four hermits. The hermits then told the Brahman to go and get the gold from the place where he previously kept but the Brahman found no gold, so he took the four hermits to see a judge to help solve the problem. The judge could not solve the problem, so he took
both the Brahman and the four hermits to see the king and told the king what had happened The Brahman said to the king: "Your Majesty, I left ten thousand Damloetungs of gold with these four hermits, who were meditating in a hermitage and they accepted it. They asked me to put the gold in the middle of the hermitage. I walked away after mad putting the gold there. A little long while later, I went back to collect the gold from them, but I did not see the gold. I told them to find the gold back for me, but they could not find it either. This is why gold I have taken these four hermits here to see Your When Majesty so that Your Majesty can kindly help find"On the gold for me because my gold has presumably mag been stolen by the earth." finis The king then said to the four hermits: "What leave has happened to you, Reverend sirs?" The four I do hermits said: "This Brahman left his gold with us all but and we told him to put the gold in the middle of the
hermitage exactly as he had told Your Majesty, but we sat in meditation with our faces turning out in different directions, so we did not know who had stolen the gold. Please help us solve this problem Your Majesty The king consulted with his dignitaries, but still could not find the gold, which made him very upset and bored. The king had a daughter named Picheth who was very clever and widely knowledgeable. She said to her father, the king"Don't worry, father. I will try to find the gold for you." Then, she sent for the four hermits. When the four hermits arrived, she told them a tale: "Once upon a time, there was a maid learning magical powers from a hermit. After having finished her studies and when she was about to take leave of her teacher, the girl said: "My dear teacher, I do not have anything to repay your good deeds, but I solemnly promise you that when my mother marries me to someone, I will ask my husband to
allow me to come to sleep with you first before going back to him again." After making such a promise, the girl took leave of her teacher and returned to live with her mother. When her mother married her to a man, she went to live with her husband, but did not have sexual intercourse with him yet. She told her husband the promise she had made with her teacher and then she dressed, made up herself and said goodbye to her husband to go to the hermit to fulfill her promise. Her husband did not forbid her and let her go at will. When she was traveling, she encountered a tiger that wanted to eat her as food. The girl then told the tiger the whole account and said: "I'll let you eat me after I come back from the hermit, my teacher." Upon hearing what the girl said, the tiger did not dare to eat her and let her go. After walking away from the tiger, the girl met with a bandit who wanted to strip her of her jewels, but she told the bandit what she had
told the tiger and said: "I will remove my jewels and give them to you after I come back from the hermit, my teacher." On hearing that, the bandit did not dare to strip her of the jewels and let her go. When she met her teacher, the girl recalled the promise she had made with him. The hermit said: "Oh, my dear student, I am very glad that you keep the promise you have made with me, but I do not intend to sleep with you because you are now married. On the other hand, I have to abstain completely from sexual pleasure, so please go back to your husband." Then, the girl took leave of the hermit and set off for home. On the same way back home, she saw neither the bandit nor the tiger and she eventually came to her husband safely. After having told the tale with riddles to the four hermits, Vichethsary said: Whose heart is the best in the story containing those riddles, Reverend?" One hermit said: "I think the heart of the husband, who allowed his wife to
go, is the best One hermit said: "In my opinion, the heart of the tiger, that was so patient that he did not eat the girl despite being hungry, is the best." he One hermit said: "For me, I think the bandit should dit S have stripped her of jewels out of being greedy, but to he could restrain himself from doing it. His heart is get the best." One hermit said: "When she arrived at her thousand teacher, her teacher should have been very pleased Brahman. to fulfill her promise, but he could restrain himself from doing such a thing and allowed her to go back to her husband. In my opinion, his heart is the thousand l best Hearing the four hermits remarks Brahman. Pichethsary noticed that the hermit who had praised Domloetu the tiger's heart was not a good hermit as he was not afraid of committing sins and the hermit who had praised the bandit was greedy for other people's properties, so she concluded that that hermit was the one who had stolen the Brahman's gold. She further noticed that the hermit who had praised the
girl's teacher tended to steal other man's wife Then, she said to the four hermits: "Reverend sirs, he who has a lot of wealth and gives it to me will marry me." Then, the hermit who had loved the bandit's heart and who thought that he would really get her to be his wife went to bring back the ten thousand Damloeungs of gold belonging to the Brahman. Pichethsary said: "This hermit really stole the Brahman's gold." She then gave the gold to the king, her father, who ordered those ten thousand Damloeungs of gold to be returned to the Brahman. The Brahman took only four thousand Damloeungs of gold and went back to his home.
