A man was caught stealing a bag of onions and taken to king Krishna-deva Raya. The king gave him a choice of three punishments eat the onions he had stolen at one sitting; submit to a hundred lashes of the whip or pay a fine.
The man said he would eat the onions. He began confidently enough but after eating a few, his eyes began to burn, his nose started running and his mouth felt as if it were on fire.
“I can’t eat the onions,” he said, “Give me the lashes instead.”
But after he had received a few strokes, he began to turn and twist to avoid the whip. “I can’t bear it!” he screamed, finally, “I’ll pay the fine.”
So he paid the fine and was let off, but he became the laughing-stock of the darbar for having taken three punishments for the same crime.
