There was once a beggar who went from village to village to ask for alms. There was one village where the people were very generous. When someone gave him food or a few coins he would say “May you receive what you have given.” Everyone liked this phrase and they were always pleased to see him once a month.

In this village there were two brothers who were merchants. Their business requirements took them frequently away from home. Their wives were often lonely. They began to secretly receive men of the village in their homes for entertainment. The beggar would make the rounds of the village. He also stopped in front of the two wives’ houses. When they gave him alms, he would say “May you receive what you have given.” The two wives, who were paranoid about their husbands’ finding out about their activities, became suspicious of the beggar. They imagined that he was hinting to them that he knew about their infidelity to their husbands.

“I am suspicious of that beggar,” said one one wife. “I think he knows about our cheating on our husbands and is going to tell them about us.”

“Why does he always repeat the same thing every time we give him alms,” said the other wife. “He must know something that will be our undoing. We must get rid of him.”

One day the two wives decided to cook some sweet cakes (gateh) and lace them with poison. They made the sweet breads smell delicious and decorated them. When they saw the beggar, they gave him the two sweet breads. He thanked them heartily and said, “May you receive what you have given.” The two evil wives thought, “We shall see what you will receive.”

The same day, the husbands of the wives were returning home after their long journey selling their wares. The beggar had decided to try and sell the two sweet breads since they were so decoratively made. He was hawking the breads as the husbands approached him on the road. They both looked at the beggar who was calling out loud, “Sweet gateh (sweet bread) from heaven made by two chaste ladies.” The brothers were intrigued because they had not eaten sweet bread since they had left on their journey. They stopped and examined the sweet breads which were warm and smelled fresh and savory. They gave the beggar some coins and left eating the bread.

When they reached their homes, they were both feeling very ill and panting for breath. Their wives called a local healer who examined the men and said they had been poisoned. He gave them both
purgatives, flushed their stomachs with emetics, and said his incantations for healing. Miraculously, the brothers were saved from death. The next day, the healer asked them what they ate or ingested the previous day. They could only think of the sweet bread they purchased from the beggar. The beggar was summoned and asked why he poisoned the two breads. He swore he had not poisoned the bread. He explained how he was called by the two wives who gave him fresh, sweet bread.

The wives were questioned. At first, they denied any wrong doing. The healer and the husbands were persistent. Some the the wives of the men who were visiting the wives secretly and who were suspicious of the merchant’s wives also came and spoke privately with the merchants. The two evil wives finally admitted the truth and their unfaithfulness revealed.

The ditch-digger falls into his own ditch. Don’t do evil deeds to others so that evil will not be done to you.