Next day, when the professor came, he asked the news, and he said, "My son, I told you yesterday that there was a woman who said that she could tell the Sultan the name of the thief. Well, last night the thief came and pushed her into the well and stole her things."
Then that youth asked, "What does the Sultan propose to do?"
The old man replied, "He is sending his soldiers out to look for the thief."
That night, after the professor had gone, the youth dressed up as a soldier, and went out and met the soldiers of the Sultan looking for the thief.
He said to them, "That is not the way to look for a thief. The way to look for a thief is to sit down very quietly in a place, and then perhaps you will see or hear him."
So he brought them all to one place and made them sit down, and one by one they all fell asleep. When they were all asleep he took their weapons and all their clothes he could carry and came with them to his house.
Next day, when the professor came, he asked him the news, and he said, "Last night the Sultan sent his soldiers out to look for the thief and behold, the thief stole their arms and their clothes, so that they returned naked."
Then the youth asked, "And now, what does the Sultan propose to do?"
The old man said, "To-night the Sultan goes himself to look for the thief."
The youth said, "That is good, for the wisdom of Sultans is great."