Child Custody
folktales of Aarne-Thompson type 926
edited by
D. L. Ashliman
© 2000
folktales of Aarne-Thompson type 926
edited by
Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto King Solomon, and stood before him. And the one woman said, "Oh my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear."
And the other woman said, "Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son."
And this said, "No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son." Thus they spake before the king.
Then said the king, "The one saith, 'This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead'; and the other saith, 'Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.'" And the king said, "Bring me a sword." And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other."
Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, "Oh my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it."
But the other said, "Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it."
Then the king answered and said, "Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof."
And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.
A woman, carrying her child, went to the future Buddha's tank to wash. And having first bathed the child, she put on her upper garment and descended into the water to bathe herself.
Then a Yaksha, seeing the child, had a craving to eat it. And taking the form of a woman, she drew near, and asked the mother, "Friend, this is a very pretty child. Is it one of yours?" And when she was told it was, she asked if she might nurse it. And this being allowed, she nursed it a little, and then carried it off.
But when the mother saw this, she ran after her, and cried out, "Where are you taking my child to?" and caught hold of her.
The Yaksha boldly said, "Where did you get the child from? It is mine!" And so quarreling, they passed the door of the future Buddha's Judgment Hall.
He heard the noise, sent for them, inquired into the matter, and asked them whether they would abide by his decision. And they agreed. Then he had a line drawn on the ground; and told the Yaksha to take hold of the child's arms, and the mother to take hold of its legs; and said, "The child shall be hers who drags him over the line."
But as soon as they pulled at him, the mother, seeing how he suffered, grieved as if her heart would break. And letting him go, she stood there weeping.
Then the future Buddha asked the bystanders, "Whose hearts are tender to babes? Those who have borne children, or those who have not?"
And they answered, "Oh sire! The hearts of mothers are tender."
Then he said, "Who, think you, is the mother? She who has the child in her arms, or she who has let go?"
And they answered, "She who has let go is the mother."
And he said, "Then do you all think that the other was the thief?"
And they answered, "Sire! We cannot tell."
And he said, "Verily, this is a Yaksha, who took the child to eat it."
And he replied, "Because her eyes winked not, and were red, and she knew no fear, and had no pity, I knew it."
And so saying, he demanded of the thief, "Who are you?"
And she said, "Lord! I am a Yaksha."
And he asked, "Why did you take away this child?"
And she said, "I thought to eat him, Oh my Lord!"
And he rebuked her, saying, "Oh foolish woman! For your former sins you have been born a Yaksha, and now do you still sin!" And he laid a vow upon her to keep the Five Commandments, and let her go.
But the mother of the child exalted the future Buddha, and said, "Oh my Lord! Oh great physician! May your life be long!" And she went away, with her babe clasped to her bosom.
Alfonso, when he was still young, took up the government of the kingdoms, and it happened that a slave girl, being in child by her master, when it came to the time of her bringing forth, made appeal, according to the laws of Spain, that she should be declared a free woman, having had a child by her master.
The master, however, unwilling to lose the slave, declared that the child was not his, thinking in this manner to keep both slave and infant. The slave asserted on the other hand that her master was the father of the child.
The matter was difficult of proof, but the wisdom of Alfonso soon found a way of settling the question. Therefore he ordered that the child be sold by auction, to the effect that it should become the property of whomsoever should offer the most money.
The master, overcome by pity, could not keep from tears, and confessed that the child was his, whereupon the king ordered that it be given into his custody, and the slave made free.
Revised January 29, 2000.