Speaker 1: Another solomon from the Chinese. At Taiyuan, there lived a
Speaker 1: middle aged woman with her widowed daughter in law. The
Speaker 1: former was on terms of too great intimacy with a
Speaker 1: notably bad character of the neighborhood, and the daughter, who
Speaker 1: objected very strongly to this, did her best to keep
Speaker 1: the man from the house. The elder woman, accordingly tried
Speaker 1: to send the other back to her family, but she
Speaker 1: would not go, and at length things came to such
Speaker 1: a pass that the mother in law actually went to
Speaker 1: the mandarin of the place and charged her daughter in
Speaker 1: law with the offense she herself was committing. When the
Speaker 1: mandarin inquired the name of the man concerned, she said
Speaker 1: she had only seen him in the dark and didn't
Speaker 1: know who he was, referring him for information to the accused.
Speaker 1: The latter, on being summoned, gave the man's name, but
Speaker 1: retorted the charge on her mother in law, and when
Speaker 1: the man was confronted with them, he promptly declared both
Speaker 1: their stories to be false. The mandarin, however, said there
Speaker 1: was a prima facie case against him and ordered him
Speaker 1: to be severely beaten, whereupon he confessed that it was
Speaker 1: the daughter in law whom he went to visit this
Speaker 1: the woman herself flatly denied, even under torture, and on
Speaker 1: being released, appealed to a higher court with a very
Speaker 1: similar result. Thus the case dragged on until a mister Son,
Speaker 1: who was well known for his judicial acumen, was appointed
Speaker 1: district magistrate at that place. Calling the parties before him,
Speaker 1: he bade his lictors prepare stones and knives, at which
Speaker 1: they were much exercised in their minds, the severest tortures
Speaker 1: allowed by law, being merely guides and fetters. However, everything
Speaker 1: was got ready, and the next day mister Sun proceeded
Speaker 1: with his investigation. After hearing all that each one of
Speaker 1: the three had to say, he delivered the following judgment.
Speaker 1: The case is a simple one, for although I cannot
Speaker 1: say which of you to women as the guilty one,
Speaker 1: there is no doubt about the man who has evidently
Speaker 1: been the means of bringing discredit on a virtuous family.
Speaker 1: Take those stones and knives there and put him to death.
Speaker 1: I will be responsible. Thereupon, the two women began to
Speaker 1: stone the man, especially the younger one, who sees the
Speaker 1: biggest stone she could see, and threw them at him
Speaker 1: with all the might of her pent up anger, while
Speaker 1: the mother in law chose small stones and struck him
Speaker 1: on non vital parts. So with the knives, the daughter
Speaker 1: in law would have killed him at the first blow,
Speaker 1: had not the Mandarin stopped her and said, hold, I
Speaker 1: now know who is the guilty woman. The mother in
Speaker 1: law was then tortured until she confessed, and the case
Speaker 1: was thus terminated.