They set off on their journey, confident in their abilities to deal
with whatever might arise. To their delight they came across a bar of
gold lying on the path. They wrapped it in a piece of cloth and
agreed to share it equally among themselves.
Night fell and the four friends stopped to camp for the night. Two of
them stayed to set up camp while the other two went to a nearby village
to buy food for the evening meal.
Sitting by the campfire, the two who set up camp looked at the bar of
gold and speculated on how wonderful it would be if they only had to
divide it two ways. They decided to lie in wait and shoot the other two
when they returned with the food.
While returning with the food the other two bemoaned the fact that
they would need to divide the gold four ways. They decided to poison
the food, kill their friends and keep the gold for themselves.
As they neared the camp, the other two shot them dead. The killers were
hungry, so they ate their fill and quickly died of the poison.
Next morning the same wise man passed the camp site on his way to
his daily ablutions at the river. He saw the four dead friends
and the bar of gold.