Supreme Master Fairy Tales

There was a petty thief who stole a duck and ate it. However, the duck he stole belonged to a very kind man; and something very strange happened to the thief after he ate the stolen duck. Duck feathers suddenly began to grow all over his body. He felt miserable and very itchy. He knew that it was a punishment, a retribution from what he had done, so he quickly repented. Everyday he prayed to the gods and asked for forgiveness.

Then in his dream a god said to him, "It was because you stole and ate a very kind man's duck that you are in this state. If you want to recover, you should go to the kind gentleman and ask him to scold you. Your problem will be cured!"

Then the thief went to the home of the duck owner and pretended, "Oh! I heard that you lost a duck. I know that it was one of my neighbors who stole it. If you scold him once, he will definitely be scared and return the duck to you."

The owner, being a very kind man, said, "Oh! It is only a duck. If it's gone, it's gone! Perhaps that person took it and ate it because he was very hungry. Besides, I don't have any proof at all. Why should I scold him? I don't want to do that! I can't be sure whether it was him or not. If he was hungry, let him eat it! It was only a duck. There is no need for any scolding!"

The thief was terrified because the owner would not scold him, so he said, "Oh! I am sorry. Please! It was I who stole the duck! If you don't scold me, I will suffer miserably. Duck feathers are growing all over my body. Should you scold me just once, I will be cured! After hearing that, - the owner of the duck was moved and gave him a scolding. Sure enough, the thief recovered.¡¹