Week 7 Storytelling: The Strangest Case of the Day

When something bad happens, people always find someone else to blame.  “It wasn’t my fault, it was his” seems to be a very common utterance, in case you hadn’t noticed.  In fact, I bet you’ve said it yourself more often than you can count! This is the story of just such an occasion, and the interesting way that the judge decided to solve the problem.

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There I was, having a perfect day.  It wasn’t too hot, it wasn’t too cold, and I hadn’t had any trying cases come into the court.  Most of it was just simple, day to day things that needed court approval before any action was taken.  Mostly it was just administering oaths and being the “impartial third party” for a few minor disputes.  It was going to be a wonderful day! That is, until two knuckleheads walked into my courtroom.

You see, these two young men, neighbors in fact, were arguing over who was at fault for a broken pot of oil.  One man had been driving his truck down the mountain path into the city, the back full filled with wood.  Meanwhile, the other young man was sitting on the ground with his pot of oil sitting on a rock beside him.  

Old Pickup Truck. Source: Pixabay

In case you didn’t know, neither of them were really following the laws of the city.  The man with the truck was speeding and trying to re-tune the radio at the same time.  He came around a bend at breakneck speed and some of his wood flew out of the back.  The man with the oil should not have been on that road in the first place, as it is strictly for motor vehicles.  There is a walking path that he should have been on instead of the road. 

Anyway, the two morons were quarreling over the broken pot, trying to decide who to blame.  I decided to teach the two a bit of a lesson, especially for fighting over something so trivial.  I knew that the man with the oil had a mother to care for and that selling the oil was his only livelihood.  I also knew that the man with the truck did not have the money to pay for the oil.  So, I devised a way to teach a lesson and get the man the money he was owed.

“Clearly it is neither of your faults.  It is the fault of the truck and the rock.  They are the ones that I will judge.  Bailiff, chain up the truck in the courtyard.  Make sure that it cannot move.  Then go retrieve the rock and chain it to the pole, and don’t forget to wrap it in chains.  I don’t want it going anywhere until the hearing.” 

I knew I sounded insane, but I was trying to prove a point after all.  Word swept through the town about my wild decree, so I knew my plan would work. 

On the day of the hearing, a great many people showed up to hear the trial.  Once the time of the trial arrived, the doors to the courtroom were locked, so no one could leave until the hearing was finished.  I took my seat, called the people to order, and proceeded to pronounce my judgement on the case.

"As you very well know, there is no law by which a truck and a rock can be judged. Why have you all come to see so absurd a thing? Now, because of your curiosity in the matter, every one of you shall pay five dollars before he gets out."

Everyone looked very much ashamed of themselves, but were more than happy to pay their way to leave the courtroom.  Thanks to the great number of people who had shown up, there was a decent sum of money by the time the room emptied.  This money was given to the man who had lost his oil, so the man was happy, their friendship was rectified, and the debt was paid.  Most importantly, I was finally able to close the court!

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Clearly this case could have been solved outside the court if the men hadn’t been set on blaming one another.  Some deal could have been worked out and the debt would have been paid.  However, because they did not want to take responsibility for their own actions, they could not settle their own differences! While the case worked out in this instance, that is not often the result of such actions.  

Author’s Note:

For this week’s storytelling, I chose The Story of the Donkey and the Rock from the Tibetan Folk Tales unit.  I kept pretty close to the original story, but I did change the point of view and that the one man was driving a truck instead of a donkey. 

I thought it would be fun to see what the judge thought of such an odd case.  I thought that a case like this would not come around very often, but would be a great chance to teach people a lesson.  I included almost a narration at the beginning and end, just to change it up a little bit.  It kind of gives the story more of a lesson type feel to it, which fits!

"The Story of the Donkey and the Rock" from Tibetan Folk Tales, by A.L. Shelton (1925). Web Source: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook.