A Goose is a Goose
Once upon a time, in a certain city, there was a Kazi. He being the chief judge of the city, was a highly respected man. The Kazi had a wife who was charming as she was intelligent. In fact, she was perfect at everything. She managed the household extremely well and saw to the needs of every member of the family and the servants. Even then she never neglected to look after her husband. She cooked the main dishes for him herself and attended to him while he ate. The Kazi took all the women to be like his wife. Whenever a man brought any accusation against a woman, he decided that the man was on the wrong. Even when a husband came with all the proofs against his wife, the Kazi not only chided the man but also punished him for his audacity in blaming a woman. "How can a woman ever deceive a man?" was the question which he threw at his listeners often. The people of the city began to talk among themselves that no justice can be expected from the Kazi if a case involved a woman. The comment was heard by Kazi's wife too.
One day a man who had a very wicked wife met the Kazi. Everybody in the city knew how the man was maltreated by his wife. But no sooner had he presented his allegation than the Kazi burst out, "You mischievous fellow, do you think that I am a bachelor? Do you think that I am ignorant of the conduct of wives? How dare you complain against your wife? Go, come with a fine of a thousand mohurs, or you shall be thrown into jail!" The poor man was in despair. First of all, it was a fact that he had been a victim of his wife's tyranny. Secondly, he was too poor to pay a fine of a thousand mohurs. What was he to do? He stood in a lane outside the Kazi's palace and wept. One of the maidservants of the Kazi's wife knew the man well and knew how his arrogant wife harassed him. She was moved to pity. Through a rear door, she led the man into the apartment of the lady of the house. The man narrated his misfortune to the lady. The Kazi's wife thought that it was high time she did something to make her husband wiser. She told the man to go home and not to bother about the fine imposed on him. That day, while eating his lunch, the Kazi said, "I have not eaten a stuffed goose for quite some time!" "You can have it tonight," said the lady. The Kazi called a servant and ordered him to go to the market in the evening and buy the most handsome goose available. The Kazi was returning from his audience hall, at the end of the afternoon session, when he saw the servant carrying the goose.
He was happy to see it. With much expectation, he sat down for dinner and himself took off the cover on the dish which he expected, would be stuffed goose. "What's this? Where is the goose?" he shouted. He had uncovered a small sparrow. "Why! This of course is the bird which the servant bought!" said his wife. "What nonsense do you speak! What he bought was a goose!" asserted the Kazi. "In that case, this is the goose!" insisted the lady. The lady's father and brothers lived next door. The agitated Kazi went out in a huff and banged on his father-in-law's door. When the gentleman opened the door, he dragged him with him, saying, "Come and see what a brazen-faced liar your daughter is! She calls a sparrow a goose!" By the time the surprised old man reached the dining table, the lady had changed the sparrow for the stuffed goose! "Why, my son, this is an excellent goose!" observed the old man. "What makes you think it was a sparrow?" The Kazi too had a second look at it and knew it to be a goose. He looked apologetic. "I'm so sorry," he said, "I never knew that I could make such a blunder," he murmured apologetically. "Never mind, son, we all make mistakes at times," observed the old man. The Kazi went to see him off at the doorstep.
The lady replaced the goose with the sparrow. The Kazi smiled and sat down for dinner. But the moment his eyes fell on the dish, his smile disappeared. "My God, but this is no doubt is a sparrow!" he yelled. Then he jumped and ran towards the door to call his father-in-law back. Swiftly the lady changed the sparrow for the goose. The old man had not entered his house when he heard the Kazi's call. He returned. Gasping for breath, the Kazi ushered him into his dining room. "On another look, sir, you cannot mistake it for a goose!" asserted the Kazi. But when they looked closely, what they saw was a goose! The old man looked at his son-in-law with some suspicion. "My son, I wonder what has come over to you! I shudder to think what the people will say when they hear that their chief judge cannot judge between a sparrow and a goose!" he said. The Kazi scratched his head and stood stammering. The old man headed towards the door. The Kazi followed him and stuttered out, "Well, father, I'm sorry..." By then the goose had given way to the sparrow. "Stop, father!" shrieked the Kazi, "Have another look!" "I've had enough look!" shouted back the old man. "You continue to look at it!" The shout had attracted the three brothers of the lady. They rushed in. As the door banged open, the Kazi looked in that direction. Swiftly the lady took away the sparrow and put the goose in its place. "Welcome, brothers," said the Kazi. "Come here and tell me if this can ever be called a goose!" The young men came near the table and looked at the dish.
"What's this if not a goose? How on earth a wise man like you make an issue out of a fine stuffed goose?" demanded the brothers-in-law. "Indeed!" the Kazi gulped down his bewilderment. "Eat it quietly and go to bed," said the three young men. "And take a week off. You are trying too many cases every day. Now, don't turn into a mental case yourself!" The three brothers were leaving. The Kazi blinked at them. The lady changed the goose into a sparrow. "For heaven's sake, brothers, come back and see!" hollered the Kazi kicking on the floor. The young men stopped. They did not come to look at the dish but looked at their father and their sister meaningfully. Then, all of a sudden, they took hold of Kazi. The Kazi struggled to free himself. But the eldest brother-in-law twisted the Kazi's hands and kept them in his iron grip. The second one kept his legs under control. The youngest one clamped his palms on his mouth so that he could not shriek. The old man followed them as they carried the Kazi into a solitary room and threw him on the floor and locked the door. The Kazi could hear the young men asking their father, "Must we inform the sultan about the sudden madness of our brother-in-law?" The Kazi could not hear what his father-in-law said. He sat bewildered for a long time. Then he wept. In the small hours, the next day, the door opened. It was his wife who entered. He cast a blank look at her. She smiled and said, "Come, you must be hungry. The stuffed goose is waiting for you!"
She quietly led him to the dining table. "But it is really a goose this time!" exclaimed the Kazi. "Naturally, a goose is a goose!" commented the lady. "But did I not see it as a sparrow?" "What you saw as a sparrow was a sparrow!" said the lady. "But..." The Kazi could not speak. "It was my mischief that confused you!" confessed the lady with a twinkle. Then, after giving out how she had confused him, she said, "This is just to cure you of your wrong ideas. You have now seen how a woman can make a sensible a man as the Kazi appear mad to the world! Hence, you should not be prejudiced about all those husbands who complain against their wives. Just as there are good men and bad men, there are also good women and bad women. A judge must judge properly!" In the morning the Kazi called the man whom he had fined. He reopened his case with a clean mind. At night the Kazi's wife invited her father and brothers to dinner and told them what she had done and for what reason. They had a hearty laugh. Only the Kazi laughed with restraint.
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