ONE day a man was going to his sister’s house in another village when he ran into a gang of dacoits.
“Who are you?” asked the dacoit chief, glowering at him.
“I’m a school teacher,” said the man.
“A school teacher, eh?” sneered the chief. “And do you test your students regularly?”
“Yes,” said the man.
“Well,” said the chief, “it’s time somebody tested you!” He picked up a large pumpkin and gave it to the school teacher.
“Guess its weight,” he told the teacher. “The exact weight, mind you! We’ll weigh it afterwards. If you’re right, I’ll let you go unharmed. If you’re wrong you’ll get a hundred lashes with the whip!”
“This pumpkin weighs exactly as much as your head, sir,” said the teacher quietly, and gave the pumpkin back to him.
As some of the dacoit’s men seemed keen to find out if the teacher was right and this they could only do if the dacoit’s head was removed from his body, the chief laughed uproariously to show that it was all a joke and let the teacher go unharmed.