And so, they started quarrelling, and visited the village elders for justice. The elders asked them to pledge before the Fire-God to find the truth.
Papabuddhi suggested, "Before pledging before the Fire-God, we can request the spirit of the tree to stand witness. It was in front of a big tree that we had buried all the money; and it may be able to reveal to us who the thief is".
The judges agreed, "We shall go the jungle together, and request the spirit of the tree to reveal the truth to us. If that fails, we will take pledge before the Fire-God."
Papabuddhi immediately went home to his father, "I have stolen a huge amount of money from Dharmabuddhi, and we have taken the matter to the village elders. Your co-operation will save me and put the blame on Dharmabuddhi. Otherwise, I shall not only lose the money but face the risk of losing my life for stealing".
His father said, "My son, tell me how I can help you so you don't have to part from the money".
Papabuddhi explained, "There is a huge hollow inside the big tree where we had buried the money. You have to get inside the hollow before morning. When all of us go to the jungle as request the spirit of the tree to reveal the truth, you have to shout from inside that Dharmabuddhi is the real thief. I can handle the rest."
Right-Mind And Wrong-Mind - Panchatantra Story PictureAs agreed, his father went to the jungle and hid himself in the hollow of the tree early next morning.
After some time, accompanied by the elders of the village, both Dharmabuddhi and Papabuddhi led themselves to the huge tree where they had buried their money.
Papabuddhi asked in a loud voice, "O spirit of the tree. Please tell us who the thief is, as we have a confrontation and the village elders have come to seek the truth."
Immediately, Papabuddhi's father replied from inside the hollow of the tree, "Listen all who seek the truth. Dharmabuddhi is the thief, who has stolen all the money."
Right-Mind And Wrong-Mind - Panchatantra Story PictureThe village elders were wonderstruck. They could not deny that the spirit of the tree had indeed revealed the truth. They immediately started discussing amongst themselves how they should punish for Dharmabuddhi's guilt.
Meanwhile, when Dharmabuddhi heard the spirit of tree speak such, he became sure that there must be something wrong. The spirit of the tree, if it was so, is telling untruth. That is not possible. Having seen the hollow of the tree, he put a heap of dried leaves and grass in front of the hollow of the tree and set fire to it.
When the fire started flaring up, Papabuddhi's father could not bear the heat and the smoke inside the hollow any longer. He came out, with burns in his body, crying for pity.
Right-Mind And Wrong-Mind - Panchatantra Story PictureThe village elders were surprised to find him coming outside from the hollow of the tree, "What were you doing here? And what has happened to you?"
He at once confessed his part, and explained the village elders what his son had done.
Thus, the village elders came to know of the truth, and decided to punish Papabuddhi for his guilt for theft, to blame it on Dharmabuddhi and misleading the village elders.
They decided to hang Papabuddhi on the very same tree, and praised Dharmabuddhi for his wit.
The wise indeed say:
Avoid the company of the wicked or you will pay a heavy price for it.
