The whole village soon learnt that a large sum of money had been lost. Sam Benton, the local butcher, had lost his wallet while taking his savings to the post office. Sam was sure that the wallet must have been found by one of the villagers, but it was not returned to him. Three months passed, and then one morning, Sam found his wallet outside his front door. It had been wrapped up in newspaper and it contained half the money he had lost, together with a note which said: 'A thief, yes, but only 50 per cent a thief!' Two months later, some more money was sent to Sam with another note: 'Only 25 per cent a thief now!' In time, all Sam's money was paid back in this way. The last note said: 'I am 100 per cent honest now!'
整个村子很快知道,有一大笔钱丢失了。山姆顿,当地的屠夫,失去了他的钱包同时把存款送往邮局的途中。山姆确信那钱包一定是被某个村民捡到了,可是却没有还给他。三个月过去了,后来在一天早晨,山姆在自己的大门外发现了他的钱包。它是用报纸包着的,里面有他丢失的钱的一半,上面写着:"一个小偷,是的,但只有50 %的小偷!"两个月后,有更多的钱,被送往山姆与另一张纸条:"现在只有25 %的小偷!"在时间,山姆全部的钱都用同样的方式还了回来。最后的那张字条上说:"我是100分的诚实人了!"