Too Miserly

Two thieves became friends and decided to embark on a business venture together. One evening, they watched a house under the cover of darkness. One thief was an expert climber, while the other was considerably slower.

“You go up first,” said the second thief. “If you find that everyone is asleep, drop a coin through the patio. When I hear its sound on the pavement, I’ll climb up.”

The first thief climbed the wall with skill and reached the upper floor. He then dropped a coin as planned. However, half an hour passed, and the second thief still did not come up. The first thief couldn’t shout; instead, he climbed down cautiously, which took another half hour, only to find his colleague groping around for something.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m looking for that coin!” the second thief replied.

“But I had tied it to a string and pulled it back up after it struck the pavement!” the first thief exclaimed.

Just then, someone switched on the lights in the house, and the thieves sighed in defeat. “We were too miserly even to be thieves!” they agreed.