working man, who was
very poor. So poor was he that his workshop and house together
consisted of a wooden cottage of but one room.

But poverty is no protection against thieves, and so it happened that
one night a thief entered the hut of the tailor. The tailor had driven
nails in various places in the walls on which to hang the garments
that were brought to him to mend. It chanced that in groping about for
plunder, the thief struck against one of these nails and put out his
eye.

The next morning the thief appeared before the Khan (Judge) and
demanded justice. The Khan accordingly sent for the tailor, stated
the complaint of the thief, and said that in accordance with the law,
'an eye for an eye,' it would be necessary to put out one of the
tailor's eyes. As usual, however, the tailor was allowed to plead in
his own defence, whereupon he thus addressed the court:

"Oh great and mighty Khan, it is true that the law says _an_ eye for
an eye, but it does not say _my_ eye. Now I am a poor man, and a
tailor. If the Khan puts out one of my eyes, I will not be able to
carry on my trade, and so I shall starve. Now it happens that there
lives near me a gunsmith. He uses but one eye with which he squints
along the barrel of his guns. Take his other eye, oh Khan, and let the
law be satisfied."

The Khan was favorably impressed with this idea, and accordingly sent
for the gunsmith. He recited to the gunsmith the complaint of the
thief and the statement of the tailor, whereupon the gunsmith said:

"Oh great and mighty Khan, this tailor knows not whereof he talks. I
need both of my eyes; for while it is true that I squint one eye
along one side of the barrel of the gun, to see if it is straight, I
must use the other eye for the other side. If, therefore, you put out
one of my eyes you will take away from me the means of livelihood. It
happens, however, that there lives not far from me a flute-player. Now
I have noticed that whenever he plays the flute he closes both of his
eyes. Take out one of his eyes, oh Khan, and let the law be
satisfied."

Accordingly, the Khan sent for the flute-player, and after reciting to
him the complaint of the thief, and the words of the gunsmith, he
ordered him to play upon his flute. This the flute-player did, and
though he endeavored to control himself, he did not succeed, but, as
the result of long habit, closed both of his eyes. When the Khan saw
this, he ordered that one of the flute-player