Once upon a time there lived in a village a man by name Dhanapalan. The people of that village were all good-natured. They led a very virtuous life. However, Dhanapalan alone was a troublemaker teasing someone or the other.

A sadhu by name Venkatesan also lived in this village. Suddenly, one day Dhanapalan said to Venkatesan,"You have borrowed ten thousand rupees from me. Return it at once. " Hearing this a very scared Venkatesan said, "I have not borrowed anything from you. Why then are you saying so?"

Dhanapalan replied, " A month back I had a dream in which you asked me for a loan. I lent you ten thousand rupees." The perplexed Venkatesan took his problem to the village panchayat. The panchayat leader was a clever man. He asked Venkatesan not to worry over this matter and within a day or two called for a meeting of the panchayat.

All the villagers took part in this hearing. The panchayat leader asked for a big mirror and placed it in this court. He then placed Rupees ten thousand in front of the mirror. He called for Dhanapalan and said to him, " Venkatesan borrowed the money from you only in the dream and not directly. Hence you can take the cash seen in the mirror. Dhanapalan not knowing what to do stood with his head bowed. Venkatesan felt relieved. The villagers praised the smart judgement of the panchayat leader.

The story goes to show that there is always a person smarter than one is.