The Thief and His Master
By: Jarius Halligan
Setting
A standard Renaissance styled town with a church and trading posts and a fair to sell things. Also a small hut in the forests where an old women lives with her son.
Plot
The plot of this story is the Master-Thief trying to rip off the old man of his money and his son. He offered his services to the old man to teach his son a trade to earn more money and help out the family. A deal was struck with the Master that if the man could come back the following year and recognize his son his teachings would be free of charge if not though, he had to pay him 200 talors. As the year passed the man got advice from a dwarf that his son would be turned into a bird in a basket and to feed it bread and that will be his son. The man used this trick and found his son and went on from the Master and his son got back at the master by deceiving him in such way that led to his death, when the son, transformed to a fox, bit the Master's head off while he was transformed into a cock.
Theme: Deception
You can learn deception from this story because the master-thief taught this mans son how to thieve and trick the man into paying him for his son back but then the man takes his son and deceives the master into paying him 100 talers for a horse that isn't a horse. When the son tries to run away from the master-thief by changing from a horse to a sparrow the master flies after him as a sparrow also. When they meet the cast lots again and the master-theif is defeated by the son again and is forced to turn into a cock and is killed by being decapitated by the son who turned into a wolf.
Characterization
Master-Thief: A person whom is skilled in the art of thieving and deceiving people.
Father: A man who is trying to do what's best for his family so they will have money to keep their property and survive.
Son: He wants to help the family so he goes out and learns thieving to help his family earn money to help provide food and supplies for his family.