A MERCHANT was returning home from a long journey, riding upon a mule.
As he drew near home, night overtook him; and he was forced to look out
for shelter. Seeing a mill by the roadside, he knocked at the door.
"Come in!" said the Miller.
"May I stay here for the night?" asked the Merchant.
"By all means," said the Miller, "if you pay me well."
The Merchant thought this rather mean; because in those days a stranger
was made welcome everywhere without paying anything. However, he made
the best of it, and came in. The Miller led off his mule to the stable.
"Please take care of my mule," said the Merchant; "I have still a long
way to go."
"Oh," said the Miller, "your mule will be all right." Then he rubbed him
down and fed him.
In the morning the Merchant asked for his mule.
[Illustration: "The Merchant was much dismayed."]
"I am very sorry," said the Miller; "he must have got loose last night,
and I can't find him anywhere."
The Merchant was much dismayed. He went out to look for himself, and
there, to be sure, was his mule, tied by the halter to the mill.
"Why, look here, Miller," says he, "here is the mule!"
"Oh no," says the Miller, "that mule is mine."
"Yours?" said the Merchant, getting angry. "Last night your stable was
empty. And don't you think I know my own mule?"
"That is mine," said the Miller again; "my mill had a young mule in the
night, and that is he."
The Merchant was now very angry indeed; but he could not help himself,
as he did not want to fight; he was a very peaceful Merchant. So he
said--
"Well, I have no doubt it's all right; but just to satisfy me, let us
ask the Rev. Dr. Jackal to decide between us; and whatever he says I
will abide by."
"Very good," answered the Miller; and away they went to the den of his
reverence the Jackal. Dr. Jackal was sitting with his hind legs crossed,
and smoking a hubble-bubble.
[Illustration]
"Good morning, worthy gentlemen," said the Jackal; "how can I serve
you?"
Said the Merchant, "Last night, my Lord Judge, I lodged with this Miller
here, and he took charge of my mule; but now he says it has run away,
though I saw it with my own eyes tied by the halter to his mill. He
says that the mule I saw is his, and that his mill is the mother of it,
and that it was born last night while I was asleep."
"Go back to the mill," said the Jackal, "and wait for me. I will just
wash my face, and then I'll settle your business."
They went away, and waited a long time, but no Jackal. Late in the
afternoon, they got tired of waiting for the Jackal, and determined to
go and look for him. There he was still, sitting in his den and smoking
a hubble-bubble.
"Why didn't you come?" asked the Miller. "We have been waiting for you
all day."
"Oh, my dear sir, I was too busy," said the Jackal. "When I went to wash
my face, I found that all the water had caught fire; I have only just
put it out."
"You must be mad, your reverence," said the Miller. "Who ever heard of
water catching fire?"
"And who ever heard," replied the Jackal, "of a mill having a young
mule?"
The Miller saw that he was found out, and was so
much ashamed that he gave back the mule to
its owner, and the Merchant
went home.