Aphrodite and the Merchant
Once upon a time, in a charming port town by the blue seas, there was an old merchant. This merchant's name was Kerem, and for years he had carried colorful fabrics to distant countries. However, recently his business went poorly and he lost all the gold in his hands. Left helpless, Kerem decided to go to the magnificent Temple of Aphrodite on the hill to pray. He knelt before the statue of the goddess Aphrodite and sincerely asked for help.
Kerem promised, "If you help me, I will offer you half of the first thing I find." The next day, he set out on a long journey and found a large sack while walking in a hot desert. Inside the sack were thousands of delicious and sweet dates. Kerem ate the dates with joy, but when he remembered his promise, his greed took over. He thought to himself, "Instead of offering gold, it is enough if I leave the date pits at the temple." Returning to the temple, he placed the pits on the altar and said, "Here, I kept my promise; I ate the outside and gave you the inside."
Proud of his cunning, Kerem returned home and fell asleep peacefully. That night in his dream, he saw Aphrodite shining brightly. The goddess said to him in a sweet voice, "A hundred pieces of gold await you on the shore, go and take them." With great excitement, Kerem immediately ran to the beach, but instead of gold, he encountered pirates there. The pirates captured Kerem and demanded a ransom of exactly a hundred gold pieces for his freedom.
At that moment, the greedy merchant realized that he could not fool the goddess by being cunning. A person who strays from honesty eventually falls into the pit they dug themselves. Lies have short legs.