Two hungry cats, having stolen some cheese, could not agree how to divide it.
So they called in a monkey to decide the case.
"Let me see" says the monkey with an arch look, "this slice weighs more than the other."
With that, he bit off a large piece, in order, as he said, to make them balance.
The other scale was now too heavy.
This gave the upright judge a fine pretense to take a second mouthful.
"Hold! Hold!" cried the two cats, "give each of us his share of the rest and we will be content."
"If you are content," says the monkey, "justice is not. The law my friends, must have its course."
So he nibbled first one piece, and then the other.
The poor cats, seeing their cheese in a fair way to be eaten up, most humbly begged the judge to give himself no further trouble.
"Not so fast, I beseech you, my friends",says the judge. "We owe justice to ourselves as well as to you. What is left is due to me in right of my office."
So saying, he crammed the whole into his mouth, and very gravely dismissed the court.
Moral: This fable teaches us that it is better to bear a slight wrong, rather than to resort to the law for trifles.
(Taken from McGuffey’s Third Reader, c 1836)
Hmmmmm.....what do you think?
Is that really the moral of this story???
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