碰巧的事儿发生了,农夫所给的暗示还真让她找到了山羊,为了表示感谢,她要给他一只受了伤的山羊,就是这只受伤的山羊成了俩人矛盾的开始,聪明的酋长是怎样解决这场冲突的呢?他真的英明过人吗?
The farmer looked at the kid. He had not heard anything the woman said. He thought she was blaming him for injuring the kid.
“Don't blame me,” he said, shaking his head. “I had nothing to do with hurting the kid. Why would I want to do that?”
At once, the woman became angry. She thought he was refusing to take the kid. “So you want a better goat?” she asked. “You can't have it! All you did was point out the direction. This kid is payment enough!”She shoved it towards him.
The farmer refused to take the kid. “I won't pay for it,” he protested. “I had nothing to do with it.”
The two began to argue and shout. In his anger, the old man struck the woman in the face. At last, they made so much noise that a crowd gathered. The people could not understand the argument, so they took the old farmer and the widow to the wise old chief.
Although no one knew it, the old chief was also deaf and his eyesight(视力)was very poor. He stared at the old man and the old woman holding the kid. He could barely see them. “Tell me what has happened,” he said.
The widow began. She explained that she had lost her goats and that the farmer had shown her the direction in which they had gone. “Surely, ” she said, “I have offered enough reward for the little work he did.”
The farmer told his side of the story. “I am innocent,” he said. “ I worked in the field all day. I never saw that kid until she brought it to me. I didn't hurt it.”
The chief nodded solemnly, although he had heard nothing. He peered at the couple standing in front of him. It appeared to be a man and a woman, and the woman was holding a child. He decided that they must want a divorce. They probably wanted him to decide which one should keep the child.
“How many years have you been married?” asked the chief.“Twenty,” answered the woman. She thought the chief was asking her how many goats she had.
“I am ashamed of you both,” said the chief. “ My decision is that you must continue to live together. You must give that poor child a good home. If you do not live together, I will put you both in prison.”
“What did he say?” asked the farmer. In a loud voice, the chief's aide (助手) tried to explain that the judge wanted them to continue to live together.
“How can we live together?” said the widow. “We're not married.”
“The chief is always right,” said his aide. “I think the best thing to do would be to get married right away. If you do not live together, the chief will have you put in prison.”
The two were married right away. The widow was a very good cook and the old man was a very good farmer. They never heard what the other said, so they got along just fine.
And once again, the wise chief had made a just decision.
