THE WISE JUDGE

THE WISE JUDGE

MUSTAPHA, the Caliph, has heard that a judge in his kingdom is as wise in his decisions as SOLOMON; so he sets out to test the truth of this report, dressed like a private person and mounted on his horse.

SCENE I
Place: A Street in Baghdad
Characters: MUSTAPHA (the Caliph)
ALI (a lame beggar)

ALI :( seizing the end of MUSTAPHA’s robe as he rides by) Alms, kind sir, alms, in the name of Allah!

MUSTAPHA : (handing in some money) Take this, and may Allah bless you! (Ali still holds on to the robe) What more do you want? Have I not given you alms?
ALI: Yes, great master, but the law says not only shalt thou give alms to thy brother, but also do for thy brother whatsoever thou canst.
MUSTAPHA : Well, and what can I do for you?
ALI: You can save me from being trodden under the feet of men and beasts, for this will surely happen to me in the crowded streets.
MUSTAPHA : How can I save you?
ALI: By letting me ride behind you, and putting me down safely in the market-place where I have business.
MUSTAPHA: Be it so. Come, climb up behind. (Stooping down, he helps the cripple to mount the horse. At length they reach the market-place.) Here we are at the market-place. Is this where you wished to stop?
ALI: Yes.
MUSTAPHA: (impatiently) Then get down.
ALI: No, no it is you who must get down.
MUSTAPHA: But why, friend?
ALI: That I may have the horse.
MUSTAPHA: That you may have the horse! What do you mean?
ALI: I meant that he belongs to me. If you do not get down I will take the case before the judge. We are in the town of the just judge, you know, and he will certainly decide in my favour.
MUSTAPHA: But why should he when the animal is mine?
ALI: When the sees us – you with your strong straight limbs that Allah has given you for the purpose of walking and I with my poor crippled feet – he will decide that the horse belongs to him who has most need of it.
MUSTAPHA: If he does that he is not a just judge.
ALI: (laughing). Oh, as to that, although he is just, I expect he can make mistake like every one else. Who is to prove that it is your horse?
MUSTAPHA: (to himself). This will be a good opportunity to test the wisdom of the judge.
ALI: What are you muttering about?
MUSTAPHA: Nothing that will interest you, my cunning beggar – but I am content with your plan Let us go before the judge.
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SCENE II
Place: The Judge’s Court

                Characters: JUDGE, WRITER, FARMER, BUTCHER, OIL MERCHANT,   
                                     MUSTAPHA, ALI, OFFICERS.

(The WRITER and the FARMER have quarreled over a young slave – as to who owned him. The slave is deaf and dumb and cannot speak for either. When MUSTAPHA and ALI enter, the judge is just going to try this case.)

JUDGE: Are the writer, the farmer, and the slave present?
OFFICER: (bowing low) They are here, my lord.
JUDGE: Let the farmer speak first.
FARMER: (bowing low) Great judge, this boy you see is my slave. I bought him only last week. This man has stolen him from me. I pray you make him give me back my slave.
WRITER: (eagerly) It is not true, my lord. This boy has been my slave for several years; I have taught him to be very useful to me. It is the farmer who is guilty. He stole my slave from me last week and declares he bought him in the market. I pray you, restore my slave to me. I can bring forward my friends, who have often seen this boy at my house.
JUDGE: I do not need the help of your friends. Perhaps to please you, they may sin against the truth. I will decide this matter. Leave the boy here and return tomorrow. (FARMER and WRITER go out.) What case comes next?
OFFICER: The case of the butcher and the oil merchant.
JUDGE: Let them come forward. (They come forward, the MERCHANT holding the Butcher’s wrist). I will first hear what the butcher has to say.
BUTCHER: (bowing low) My lord, judge, I went to buy some oil from this man, and, in order to pay for it, drew a handful of money from my picket. The sight of it must have tempted him, for he seized me by the wrist to wrench the money from me. I cried out, but he would not let me go. So we have come before you, great judge, I holding my money, and he still grasping my wrist. O just and most wise judge, I declare in the name of Allah that the money is mine.
JUDGE: Now, oil merchant, what have you to say?
OIL MERCHANT: This man came to purchase oil from me. When I gave him the bottle he asked if I could change a gold piece. I drew out a handful of money and laid it on a barrel in my shop. He seized it and was walking off with it, when I caught him by the wrist and called out “Robber”. In spite of my cries, however, he would not give up the money; so I brought him here that you, great judge, might decide the case. I declare that this money is truly mine.
JUDGE: Leave the money with me and return tomorrow. (They give the money to an OFFICER, then bow low and depart) What is the next case?
OFFICER: The case of two men who each lays claim to a fine Arab horse.
JUDGE: Let them come forward. (MUSTAPHA and ALI come forward, bowing low, JUDGE addresses MUSTAPHA). What have you to say?
MUSTAPHA: (bowing again) My lord, judge, I came from afar to visit your city. At the gate I met this cripple, who first asked in the name of Allah for alms, and then that he might ride behind me to the market-place. When we arrived there he refused to dismount, declaring that the horse belonged to him and that you, most righteous judge, would decide in his favour, because, so he says, he has most need for the horse. That, my lord, is a true statement of the case.
JUDGE: Now let the cripple speak.
CRIPPLE: My lord, what has been said is not true. I was on my way to the market-place, riding this horse, which belongs to me, when I saw a traveler half dead with fatigue. In the kindness of my heart I offered to let him ride with me to the market-place. He accepted the offer eagerly and indeed thanked me. What was my astonishment, then, when he refused to dismount and declared that my horse was his! Without any delay I have brought him before you, O judge, in order that you may decide between us.
JUDGE: Leave the horse and return tomorrow.

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SCENE III
Place: The Judge’s Court
Time: The next day
Characters: The same

JUDGE: Where are the writer and the farmer?
OFFICER: (bowing) They are here, my lord, and the butcher and the oil merchant, the man who calls himself Mustapha and the cripple Ali.
JUDGE: Let the writer come forward. (WRITER comes forward bowing) The slave is yours; that is my judgment. Take him home. Officer, give the farmer fifty blows for stealing the slave and lying about it. (WRITER goes off happily with his slave. OFFICER leads out the FARMER.) Now let the oil merchant and the butcher come forward. Here, butcher, is the money. It is truly yours, and the oil merchant has no right to any part of it. Go in peace.
BUTCHER: Allah be praised, my innocence is proved. (Bows low and goes out.)
JUDGE: Officer, give this oil merchant two score lashes that he may remember not to be dishonest. (OIL MERCHANT is led out) Let Mustapha and Ali now come forward. Mustapha, would you recognize your horse among others?
MUSTAPHA: Surely, my lord.
JUDGE: Follow me.

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SCENE IV
Place: The Stable
(Enter JUDGE, MUSTAPHA, OFFICER.)

JUDGE: Now Mustapha, point out your horse.
MUSTAPHA: (going up to his horse). Here it is, my lord.
JUDGE: ‘Tis well, Mustapha. Return now to the court room. Officer, bring Ali here. (MUSTAPH goes out and OFFICER returns with ALI).
JUDGE: Point now, Ali, to the horse that belongs to you. Be sure you make no mistake. Approach and touch the horse that I may know, without doubt, which one is yours.
ALI: (going up with confidence to the same horse). This my lord, is mine.
JUDGE: Good. Now let us return to the court-room again
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SCENE V
Place: The Court-room again

JUDGE: Mustapha, the horse is yours. Go to the stables and take him. Officer, give this rogue fifty lashes. He well deserves them, in as much as he tried to wrong the man who had befriended him. Allah be praised, our work for today is done. (ALL go out except MUSTAPHA). Why do you wait, Mustapha? Are you not satisfied with the judgment given?
MUSTAPHA: Truly, O judge, I am satisfied, but I long to know how you arrived at your decisions, for I am sure that your judgments in the first two cases were as just as in mine. Know that I am Mustapha, Caliph of Baghdad, and I cam hither to test you. I find that you are indeed a wise judge. Tell me, I pray you, how you arrived at your decisions.
JUDGE: (bowing low and kissing his master’s hand.) Glory and prosperity be to you, O Prince of the Faithful and protector of Believers.
MUSTAPHA: Rise, friend. I desire that you tell me the reasons for your judgments.
JUDGE: O Prince of the Faithful, it is very simple. Your Highness saw that I postponed my decisions until today?
MUSTAPHA : Yes, I saw that.
JUDGE: Well, this morning I called the slave and by signs I bade him put fresh ink into my inkstand. This he did promptly and carefully, as if he had done the thing a hundred times before. I said to myself. ‘This boy has not been the slave of a farmer. He belongs to the writer.’
MUSTAPHA: Good ! And the butcher? How did you reach that decision?
JUDGE: Did you notice, O Prince of the Faithful, that the oil merchant had his clothes and hands covered with oil?
MUSTAPHA: Surely I did.
JUDGE: Well, list night I placed the money in a vessel filled with water. This morning when I looked at it there was not a particle of oil to be seen on the surface of the water. I said to myself. ‘If this money belonged to the oil merchant, it would be greasy from the touch of his hands. As it is not, the butcher’s story must be true.’
MUSTAPHA: Good again! And my horse? How did you find out the truth about that?
JUDGE : O Prince of the Faithful, that was difficult. Until this morning I was greatly puzzled.
MUSTAPHA: The cripple did not recognize the horse, I suppose?
JUDGE: On the contrary, O Protector of the Poor, he pointed him out at once.
MUSTAPHA: How, then, did you discover that he was not the owner?
JUDGE: Commander of the Faithful, I brought you to the stables separately not to see whether you would know the horse, but whether the horse would know you. When you approached him, the creature turned towards you, thrust his head forward, and looked at you with affection; but then the cripple touched him, he laid back his ears and made signs as if to sidle away. Then I knew that you were truly his master.
MUSTAPHA: Allah has bestowed upon you wisdoms above the ordinary, and you are worthy to fill my place. But I, the Caliph, could not fill yours, most wise judge, and henceforth, yours shall be the highest office in the land next after mine. Let it be written in the records of court.

R. M. Senforth