Reward
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 1
- 2
- 1
- 2
- 1
- 2
- 1
- 2
When Magistrate Cui Anqian arrived at his post in Sichuan, a place plagued by banditry, he did not have enough manpower to round up the bandits. So he put up a public notice offering five hundred ounces of silver to anyone who would apprehend a bandit and hand him over to the authority. If the person himself had been a bandit, he would be granted a pardon and still receive the reward.
Shortly afterwards a bandit was taken to the authority by his cohort and sentenced to death. The bandit protested, “The man and I had been together for the last seventeen years, and we shared spoils. How could you only arrest me? If I have to die, he should die, too.”
“Well,” said Magistrate Cui, “didn’t you see the notice I put out? Why didn’t you inform on him before he informed on you? If you did, you would be the one to receive the reward and he would be the one to die. You have only yourself to blame for letting him get ahead of you.”
The bandit was publicly executed and his former cohort was publicly rewarded.
Just as Magistrate Cui had hoped, the bandits began to suspect each other. Soon they all fled Sichuan.
Next Story
Family Line
Last Story
Four Times Seven
Wise Proverbs
- Evil will be recompensed with evil.
- 恶有恶报。
- Guilty consciences make men cowards.
- 做贼心虚。
- To eat one's own bitter fruit.
- 自食其果。
Editor Says:
A good recipe for fighting crime and corruption.