Once upon a time there lived two sisters. The elder sister had a son. The boy was one year old. The two women loved the baby dearly. One day the sisters quarreled and at night the younger sister tried to leave the house with the boy. The elder sister saw it and stopped her. “You cannot take the boy. He’s my son!” said the elder sister. But the younger sister wanted to have the boy very much and she


said: “I’ll tell the judge the boy is mine. I love the baby so much that the judge will believe me. ” So, in the morning they went before the judge. Each woman told him that the baby was hers. The judge thought a little and then called his servants. “ Cut the child into two halves and give each woman a half of the boy,” he said. The younger sister didn’t say a word, but the elder told the judge:”


I’m not the child’s mother. Give him to my sister and let him live.” The judge then said to his servants: “ Give the boy to the elder sister. She is the real mother.”