People tell parables about the wisdom of King Solomon, about how wisely and fairly he resolved litigation and disputes. But it happens that a little boy can set an example of wisdom for adults.
This is the story that happened once upon a time, long ago, with two shopkeepers.
Their shops stood side by side in the bazaar and were separated only by a thin wooden partition. One shop sold oil, another sold incense.
One evening, before the market closed, a shopkeeper selling incense looked through a crack in the partition to his neighbor and saw him counting gold dinars and putting them in a red scarf. He also began to count them. There were one hundred and sixty-five gold coins in the scarf.
The shopkeeper was overcome by greed; he really wanted to take possession of this money. He ran out into the street and yelled:
- Kara-u-ul! Robbed! They stole my money!
The guards immediately came running.
-Who do you suspect of theft? - asked the guards.
- I don’t know... After I put the money in the red scarf, no one came here except my neighbor, the oil merchant. And there were one hundred and sixty-five dinars in the scarf!
The guards looked at the neighbor and found one hundred and sixty-five gold dinars wrapped in a red scarf in a secluded place.
The oil merchant swore and swore that it was his own money, but they did not believe him, they seized him and threw him into prison.
The judge began to investigate this case, but could not establish who was right and who was wrong.
Even the ruler of the city became interested in the litigation, but he, too, could not figure it out. In fact, who should you trust - the oil merchant or his neighbor? Which one is telling the truth and which one is lying? The only talk in the city was about this incident, but no one knew how to unravel the tangle.
One day, while walking outside the city, the ruler met children who were starting some kind of game. He heard one of the boys say:
- Let's play court. You will be the oil merchant, you will be his neighbor, and I will be the judge.
The city ruler hid behind a tree and began to watch. The children rolled a large stone and sat the boy on it, who wanted to be a judge. Two others approached him, posing as shopkeepers.
“These are my one hundred and sixty-five dinars, I got them for the oil I sold,” said one.
“No, it’s my money,” answered the other. “I counted them, wrapped them in a red scarf and hid them in a drawer, and you came and stole them.”
After listening to both, the “judge” said:
— Bring me a bowl of hot water.
- For what? - the other children were surprised.
- I'll put dinars in it. If droplets of oil float to the surface of the water, it means that this is the oil merchant’s money: he spends the whole day fiddling with his goods, his hands are greasy, and the coins must be oily. If nothing comes up, it means it’s his neighbor’s money.
Hearing this, the ruler of the city came out of his hiding place, kissed the boy “judge”, wrote down his name and found out where he lived.
Returning home, the ruler announced that the long-awaited trial would take place tomorrow. The news of this immediately spread throughout the city. A large crowd gathered outside the courthouse.
When both shopkeepers had stated their case, the ruler ordered a bowl of hot water and a handkerchief with gold dinars to be brought.
He put the coins in the water and immediately droplets of oil floated to the surface.
“Show the bowl to the people,” the ruler ordered, “let everyone tell whose money it is.”
- Of course, the oil merchant! Oil merchant! - People shouted in one voice.
The money was immediately returned to its owner, and his greedy neighbor was imprisoned.
Then everyone began to praise the wisdom of the ruler, and he picked up the little boy and said:
“It was not me, but this boy who exposed the insidious deceiver!”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru