One day, strange sheep climbed into a man’s vineyard and gnawed the grapevine. The owner of the vineyard found the owner of the sheep and took him to the judge. When they came to the judge, the owner of the vineyard said:
- May God help you judge us! This man's sheep got into my vineyard and ate all the vines. I tell him: “Pay for my grapes that they ate,” and he replies: “I didn’t force them to eat your grapes and I won’t pay.” That's why I brought him to you.
The judge listened and said to the owner of the sheep:
- Well, what do you answer to this?
And the owner of the sheep said:
- May God help you judge us! My lord, I did not allow my sheep to eat his grapes. It happened like this: they left me, wandered into his vineyard and ate the grapes.
“If you had looked after your sheep, this would not have happened,” the judge objected, “and since you allowed them to eat his grapes, then please pay him.” Let the elders calculate how much the grapes cost!
The elders calculated and told the judge that the price of the grapes eaten was equal to the price of the sheep with their lambs.
Then the judge said to the owner of the sheep:
“You must give your sheep and lambs to the owner of the vineyard!”
- This is unfair! - he objected. - Let His Majesty judge us!
And they went to the negus.
When they appeared before the Negus, the owner of the sheep said:
- May God help you judge us! Oh, negus! My sheep left me, wandered into this man’s vineyard and ate all the grapes. The judge and the elders told me that I should give him my sheep along with the lambs for this. Then I decided to come to Your Majesty so that you could judge us.
- Was that the case? - the Negus asked the owner of the vineyard.
- Yes, Your Majesty! - he answered. “The elders calculated the value of my grapes and told him to give his sheep and lambs for it.
Then the Negus thought and asked the owner of the vineyard:
— Did this man’s sheep eat fruit or branches with leaves?
“My grapes ripened, and they ate them, but left the branches with leaves.” But what is the use of branches and leaves now if there are no grapes on them!
Then the Negus pronounced the following sentence:
“If his sheep ate the branches with leaves and fruits, you would have to take the sheep with their wool and lambs from him for this.” But they only ate the fruits. Therefore, take only the lambs from him, and leave the sheep with their wool to the owner.
No wonder the proverb says: “The heart of a wise man is like a scale.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru