Once a father and his son were unjustly convicted of theft. They were brought before court and the Soltan. The judge decreed 40 lashes for the alleged criminals. First forty lashes are administered to the father. He suffers, his whole back becomes a pool of blood, but he does not cry out a single word that expresses pain.

Then they start to lash the son. Each time they hit the son, the father cries out, “Oh my son, no.” The Soltan calls the old father to him:

“You were flogged with forty lashes but you did not utter a single word of pain. Why do you cry now?”

“O Your Majesty, the lashes were touching my flesh only when they beat me, but when they beat my son, I felt the pain deep in my inside.”

The Soltan was pleased with the answer and ordered that the two be released, saying that such a father could not be accused of theft.

(316.)