The merchant and his son set out to sea together. He carried a full chest of jewelry with him, planning to sell it during the journey, but he never revealed this secret to anyone. One day, the merchant accidentally overheard sailors whispering. It turned out they had discovered the jewelry and were planning to harm the father and son to steal it. The merchant was terrified after hearing this; he paced back and forth in his small cabin, trying to come up with a way to escape the predicament. His son asked him what was wrong, and the father told him everything he had heard. "Let's fight them!" the young man said decisively. "No," the father replied, "we can't beat them." "Hand over the jewelry to them." "That's not an option either; they might kill us to cover it up." After a while, the merchant stormed onto the deck in anger. "You stupid son," he shouted, "you never listen to my advice!" "Old man," his son shouted back, "you never say a single thing worth listening to!" As the father and son began to curse each other, the sailors gathered around out of curiosity. Suddenly, the old man rushed to his small cabin and dragged out his jewelry chest. "Ungrateful son," the merchant yelled, "I'd rather die in poverty than let you inherit my wealth!" After saying this, he opened the jewelry chest, and the sailors gasped at the sight of so many jewels. The merchant rushed to the railing and, before anyone could stop him, threw all his treasures into the sea. After the ship docked at the port, the merchant and his son hurried to the local magistrate. They accused the sailors of piracy and attempted murder. The judge arrested the sailors. The judge asked the sailors if they saw the old man throw the jewelry into the sea, and they all agreed they had. The judge then sentenced them to be guilty. The judge asked, "Who would abandon their life savings without hesitation? Only when facing danger to their life, right?" The sailors voluntarily compensated the merchant for his jewelry, and the judge thus spared their lives.