The Golden Cup
Vlad Dracula was known throughout his land for his insistence on honesty. Thieves seldom dared practice their trade within his domain, for they knew that the stake awaited any who were caught. Vlad was so confident in the effectiveness of his law that he laced a golden cup on display in the central square of Tirgoviste. The cup was never stolen and remained entirely unmolested throughout Vlad Dracula’s reign.
The Story of the Foreign Merchant
A foreign merchant from Hungary visited the capital of Tirgoviste. Vlad ordered him to leave his wagon of gold in the street overnight obviously to show off how his people would not steal. However the merchant was surprised to find 160 gold florins missing in the morning. Vlad then told the merchant "Go now; and tonight you shall have your gold back". He put forward orders for his men to find the thief in the city saying also that if the burglar was not found
that he would personally throw one of the hugest tantrums anyone had ever seen and destroy the city.Dracula then put his own money in the wagon overnight adding one florin to the original sum. The next morning the Merchant was astonished to find his florins returned with one extra. He went to Vlad and said of his findings. Vlad had by then been
brought the thief and had him impaled. He announced to the Merchant "walk in peace now; but if you had not told me about that one florin, I would have had you impaled together with this thief!".
that he would personally throw one of the hugest tantrums anyone had ever seen and destroy the city.Dracula then put his own money in the wagon overnight adding one florin to the original sum. The next morning the Merchant was astonished to find his florins returned with one extra. He went to Vlad and said of his findings. Vlad had by then been
brought the thief and had him impaled. He announced to the Merchant "walk in peace now; but if you had not told me about that one florin, I would have had you impaled together with this thief!".
The Lazy Wife
Vlad pointed out a man working in a field who was wearing a too short caftan. The prince stopped and asked if the man had a wife. He replied "yes". Vlad ordered the wife be brought before him and asked her how she spent her days. The terrified woman answered that she spent her days washing, baking and sewing. Vlad pointed out to her the husbands short caftan as evidence of her laziness and dishonesty and ordered the poor woman impaled despite her husband's protest that he was well satisfied with his wife and she certainly was not lazy. The woman was not spared and Vlad ordered another woman to marry the peasant warning her to work hard or she would suffer the same fate.