2. 
 In Vlad Ţepeş’ time, a merchant travelling in our
country, made someone shout at the crossroads that
he’d lost a 1000 golden coins bag, promissing a
hundred golden coins reward to whomever might
find it.

3. 
 After a short while, a Christian,
a God-fearing man, as many
Romanians were in those days,
showed himself to the
merchant and told him:
 - Patron merchant, as I was
going my way, at the
crossroads behind the
fishmonger’s, I found this bag.
I think it is yours, because I’ve
heard you screaming that you
lost a money bag.
 - It is mine, indeed and I kindly
thank you for giving it back to
me.

4. 
 While counting the money,
the merchant was struggling
his mind to find a way out of
paying the promised reward.
When he finished with the
counting, he put it back into
the bag, then told the man:
 - I have counted the money,
and I see you’ve kept your
reward. Now there are nine
hundred coins instead of a
thousand. You were perfectly
right to do so.
 - Patron merchant, said the
Christian,you have no reason
to say there is money
missing in your bag. I haven’t
even opened it to see how
much it is inside. I’ve given it
to you just the way I found it.

5. 
 - I’ve told you, harshly said the merchant , I lost a
thousand golden coins bag and there is no more than
nine hundred golden coins inside . And that’s it!
 The man argued no more, but went straight to Tepeş in
order to complain.
 - Your Highness, he said, he hasn’t given me the
promised reward; still I’m not angry for this reason, but
he suspects me to have been dishonest.

6. 
 - If you, patron merchant, lost a thousand golden coins bag, and this man found
a nine hundred golden coins bag, then this bag cannot possibly be yours.
 You, Christian, take the money you’ve found and give it to whomever might
have lost a nine hundred golden coins bag; and you, patron merchant, wait
until you find the one thousand golden coins bag, which you say you’ve lost!
 - If you, patron merchant, lost a thousand golden coins bag, and this man found
a nine hundred golden coins bag, then this bag cannot possibly be yours.
 You, Christian, take the money you’ve found and give it to whomever might
have lost a nine hundred golden coins bag; and you, patron merchant, wait
until you find the one thousand golden coins bag, which you say you’ve lost!
 And so they did, since there was no way out. Vlad Ţepeş had judged.
 The merchant paid for his deed, and he felt sorry for it his entire life.
Your Highness, I was silver clean and never had it crossed my mind to steal
anyone’s belongings.
Ţepeş understood the merchant’s stratagem and commanded to be brought to him.
Listening to both of them and severely judging their words, he could immediately
tell the right from wrong. Then looking straight into the merchant’s eyes, he said: