be the thief."

"But why didn't the thief leave any footprints?" the policemen asked.

"Because he must have ridden his camel from the roadway right to the
edge of the grass," the clever man answered. "Then he must have jumped
down upon the grass, where he knew he would not leave any footprint.
He must have walked very quietly on the grass up to the tree where the
traveler was sleeping, and stolen the money. Then he must have walked
back quietly to the camel and ridden off."

"But what sort of a man is the thief?" the police asked. "How can we
find him, if you do not tell us what he is like?"

"I cannot tell you a thing about the thief, or what he looks like, as
he hasn't even left a footprint," the clever man answered. "But I can
tell you _all about the camel_. The camel is _blind_ in his _right
eye_, and _lame_ in his _left hind foot_. And on his back he is
carrying two packages, one on each side; the package on the _right_
side has _honey_ in it, and the package on the _left_ side has _corn_
in it. So you must search for a man who is riding a camel loaded like
that. He is the thief."

So the police searched for a man who was riding a camel which was
blind in his right eye, lame in his left hind foot, and carrying honey
in a package on his right side, and corn in a package on his left
side. After following the camel's footprints on the ground for a long
time, the police at last came to a village.

They searched through the village, and found many men riding camels.
But there was only one man riding a camel blind in his right eye, lame
in left hind foot, and carrying honey on the right side, and corn on
the left side. So the police knew that he was the thief, and took him
before the judge. Then the thief said that it was quite true that he
stole the money.

Afterwards the judge turned to the clever man and asked him how he
knew all that about the camel.

"You didn't _see_ the camel at all, but only his footprints," the
judge said. "Then how did you know that the camel was blind in his
right eye, lame in his left hind foot, and carrying honey on the right
side, and corn on the left side?"

"It was quite simple," the clever man answered very modestly. "First,
about the camel being blind in his right eye. He had nibbled at the
shrubs and bushes growing on the left side of the road, for at each
bite I found the leaves cut off clean by his teeth. On the right side
of the road there were also plenty of good shrubs