I'm writing this after ginja_ninja's... remarks about Khajiit stealing (wubwubwubwub). It's really unrelated but it brought back the reminder that Khajiit are very misunderstood by both players, scholars and Tamrielic citizens alike with their foreign ways. So of course, I'm going to be talking about stealing.
First, you have to understand the way Khajiit think about it. I picked up on a great example by IIRC Rial91 who knows his fair share of Khajiiti lore, and that is an example of a shopkeeper and his assistant, I cant think of names so bugger it I'm going to use their titles.
Shopkeeper wants assistant to move some things around upstairs, Assistant goes upstairs to move the stock. Assistant looks over onto a crate and sees a fish. The fish is just laying there still as most dead fish do. Assistant decides he's hungry so he eats the fish. Assistant finishes his job and continues working. Shopkeeper goes upstairs and finds that his fish has been eaten and obviously by Assistant. Shopkeeper calls authorities onto Assistant and he is arrested, Assistant has no idea why.
To the Assistant, he went upstairs to do his job, he saw a food item. The fish wasn't labeled with "Shopkeepers' fish", it didn't tell him "you there, I'm the Shopkeepers fish!". It was just there and on a crate in a place they both work in. Who owns every fish in the world? no one. The fish was, as far as Assistant could tell, belonging to no one. If it didn't belong to anyone, it was Assistant's for the taking. Then he gets taken by authorities for having his lunch! Ridiculous.
You could say that Khajiit think in regards to property that if there's nothing clearly stating what something belongs to, they have a "finder's keepers" type of thinking.
Another example, Khajiit goes into a house. No one lives in this house. Khajiit decides to stay. After a few days, another Khajiit comes into the house; Khajiit does not care, there is plenty of room in the house to share. More come into the house; Khajiit still enjoys his time staying in his part of the house. the house becomes really crowded, so Khajiit decides to leave because he was no longer enjoying the house, he will find another place to rest. It may not be his place, but it will be a place.
So, this should've given you an idea of how the Khajiit generally act regarding property. Now onto the perception of "thievery" and how it's different.
To most on Tamriel, thievery is a filthy act, taking the hard-earned goods of someone by someone who has no respect for their property and likely other people. It's looked down upon by many. Khajiit also think of the selfish poorly, but a thief may not be a thief.
Observing the well known word/prefix "Dar". It means many things, not just "thief". Dar can have the following meanings: thief, clever, "to kill" (rarely used) and a person who's skilled with their hands (which can be a blacksmith, carpenter, what have you). One who is termed "dar" or given the prefix "dar" is a clever person and rather talented, a useless person doesn't get the honour of a prefix. Why is a thief clever? simple, they had to have the cunning and smarts to properly take from Khajiit. This is not like a person walking into the house and "taking" one floor of the house from the example Khajiit, Khajiit know their possessions and to have taken them undetected is a great skill.
Let's look at the supposed god Rajhin, he was as "dar" as they came. We've all heard the story, Rajhin stole a tattoo off of Empress Kintyra's neck. This involves both cleverness and thievery. Cleverness in his understanding of stealth and talents for being so sneaky and successful. Thievery for the fact he had taken an item for himself that was clearly belonging to another. On the topic of Rajhin, personally I'd say he's more a saint than a god and was "deified" to be an example of cleverness (which is something that Khajiit respect greatly, it's integral in their nature and whoever can do it better than any other is obviously going to be liked).
Now, this does not mean that thievery is looked upon like "wow, you stole x, y, z from Eg'Example", in fact, it's seen as a filthy act of a lowlife. Most Khajiit belong to something, whether it be a clan, town, caravan or kingdom, they use their talents to benefit what they are a part of. Thieves who act selfishly and for themselves are degenerates for they don't act to benefit something else. But, if one steals from let's say a wealthy person from another kingdom, they will have greatly aided their clan/kingdom with the newly brought riches.
This isn't to say there aren't proper thieves amongst Khajiit, but you have to understand what it is they're doing and why they're doing it. If you're just some traveler walking around Elsweyr and a Khajiit steals your bag, they were probably some lowlife scum that's only liked by other lowlives. In fact, if they just ran up and took your bag, they probably won't live long if they're that stupid amongst a race known for having one thought, one expression and one sentence all different from each other.
Now you'll probably ask "but so many Khajiit in games I play are thieves/criminals, they can't all be misunderstood". That's correct, they aren't all misunderstood. It's commonly agreed upon (but not exactly established "canon") that the Khajiit who are outside of Elsweyr (where you play) are outside of Elsweyr for a good reason. There aren't many Khajiit outside of Elsweyr because they'd like to see more of the world or expand riches in some other land to travel, but they do exist. Most aren't decent folk; Ri'saad in Skyrim, when asked about his homeland, eventually stops and says "Ri'saad will talk no more, for he misses his home" or something along those lines. Just using him as an example, there's a few reasons as to why he isn't there, either A: He's no longer welcome after whatever criminal activity he may have participated in or B: he is VERY faithful and is following the moonpath that leads him throughout Skyrim. That last one may be a possibility for Ri'Saad and other caravaners, but it doesn't really work for many other outside Khajiit. I wouldn't be surprised if many who work for those lead caravaners work took it on because they couldn't find another type of work/lifestyle they're accustomed to in Elsweyr that wasn't thievery (in the well known sense).
I believe I've covered all, if not most, areas regarding Khajiit and "thievery". If you have any further questions feel free to ask. Hopefully now you can look upon your furry neighbours with understanding (although don't trust all of them, some can be real scumbags).
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