Once the king of a certain country lost his valuable diamond ring. He announced a reward for anyone who found the ring. It so happened that a soldier chanced upon the ring. He decided he would go straight to the king for the reward. “If I report this to my superior officers,” he thought, “the credit will go to somebody else not to me.”
When he arrived at the palace, the guard demanded half the reward as his price for informing the king.
The soldier thought for a while then said, “Alright. But you must state in writing that you’re to be given half the reward.”
The guard agreed. The king was mighty pleased to see his ring and sent his minister to fetch 500 gold coins as the reward.
“No, wait!” exclaimed the soldier. “My reward should be 200 lashes!” “What!” cried the king.
“Are you mad?” “No, I only deserve 200 lashes,” repeated the soldier. Shaking his head in disbelief, the king asked the whip to be brought. Just as a servant prepared to flog the soldier, he said, “Wait! There is someone who is entitled to half my reward!” The soldier produced the note written by the guard. The protesting guard was brought in and given a hundred lashes, while the angry, though amused king gave the soldier his just reward.