He would rather suspect that his brothers had been guilty
of foul play. The judge said he must dismiss the suit,
since they cannot produce the father, who alone could
decide. But stay, he remembers the true ring has the
power to make its owner beloved by God and men ; the
counterfeit can have no such virtue. * Say then, which of
you do two brothers love the best ? You are silent. Each
loves himself the best. The rings act inwardly alone, not
outwardly. Go, go ; you are all three deceived deceivers,
the real ring perchance was lost, and to conceal the loss,
your father ordered three for one. And now if you desire
my counsel instead of my judgment, I say to you, rest with
the matter as it stands. Each of you has received a ring ;
let each one deem his true, and make it true by trying who
can display most gentleness, forbearance, charity, united to
heartfelt resignation to God's will. It may be that your
father no longer desired to tolerate the exclusive tyranny
of one ring, and loving you all would not favour one son to
the prejudice of others. Be that as it may, do you each
strive as I have said. If after a thousand thousand years
the virtues of the ring continue to show themselves in your
children's children, perchance one wiser than I will sit on
this judgment seat who can decide.
This poem of * Nathan the Wise * has won the admiration
.of some of the greatest thinkers of the day — not so much
for its poetical genius as for its deep philosophical insight.
