Once there lived three wicked men. They used to go out together in search of loot. They would divide among themselves equally whatever they got in this way. One day they found a big stone under a tree. They removed the stone and found a pit.

They dug the pit and found an iron safe. They broke open the seal. To their great delight, the safe was full of gold and silver coins. But it was too heavy to be carried away. They sent one of their companions to fetch a cart. When he left, the other two men began to talk. One of them said to the other, “Will it not be good if we two share the whole treasure. We two can easily do away with the third when he returns. Then each of us will have half the treasure instead of one-third.” The other man was of the same opinion. They devised a plan to murder their companion immediately on his arrival.

The third companion reached the town, hired a cart and bought some wine and sweets. He too was as wicked as his two companions were. He said to himself, “If I could get the whole of the treasure, I would be able to live in peace for the rest of my life.” Thinking this, he put some poison into the wine.

As soon as he reached near the tree, his two friends fell upon him and put him to death before he could utter a word. They were so very pleased at their easy success that they began to eat sweets and drink wine before putting the safe on the cart. The next moment they too fell dead on the ground beside the pit and the treasure remained where it was.

Moral: If you dig a pit for others, you yourself will fall into it. An evil action recoils on the evildoer.