How They Tried to Torture a Stone Slab

Once upon a time, Judge Bao (Bao-gong) got into his palanquin and set off to the courthouse to administer justice. As he was riding down the street, he noticed a boy sitting on a stone slab. The slab was old, almost blackened, and the boy was weeping bitterly. Beside him stood a bamboo-woven basket.

Judge Bao ordered the carriers to stop, called the boy over, and asked:

"Who has wronged you, boy? Why are you crying?"

The boy replied:

"Since early morning, I've been selling doughnuts. I earned two hundred copper coins and put them in the basket. Then a magician came and started performing tricks. I sat on this stone to watch. I didn't watch for long. But when I looked back into the basket, the money was gone."

The boy spoke these words and began to cry even harder.

Judge Bao listened to the boy, furrowed his brows, thought for a moment, and then said:

"The money was in the basket, and the basket was on the stone. Suddenly, the money disappeared. Surely, the stone slab must have stolen it. Guards! Bring the boy and the stone slab to the courthouse for questioning."

When people heard that Judge Bao was going to interrogate a stone slab, they spread the news far and wide. It's said that one person tells ten, and ten tell a hundred. Amazed, they rushed to the courthouse to witness the interrogation.

Judge Bao entered the hall and ordered the stone slab to be brought in and placed in front of the table. He told the boy to stand beside the slab, while the crowd gathered on both sides of the table.

Judge Bao took his seat at the judge's bench and began the interrogation:

"Confess, stone slab! Did you steal the boy's money? Speak the truth, or I will order you to be beaten and tortured."

But the stone, being a stone, remained silent. Judge Bao grew furious, banged on the table, and ordered the guards to beat the slab. When the crowd heard that the judge had ordered the stone to be beaten, they could hardly contain their laughter. But no one dared to laugh openly in the courthouse—it was too intimidating. The guards raised their sticks and began to strike the stone. They hit it so hard that splinters flew in all directions. The people couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter, so loud that the sound of the sticks hitting the stone was drowned out.

Only Judge Bao did not laugh. He struck his gavel to quiet the crowd and said:

"What is this? Do you not know how to behave in a courthouse? Guards! Lock the doors and let no one leave!"

Seeing that Judge Bao was angry, the people fell to their knees, begging for mercy.

The judge said:

"Very well, I will spare you this time, but before anyone leaves, each of you must give a coin. If you agree, I will let you go in peace."

Judge Bao ordered the guards to bring a large vat of water and place it in the middle of the hall. He then instructed everyone to throw a coin into the vat, while he stood nearby and watched. One by one, the coins fell into the vat, and the people left the hall. But then a certain man approached and threw his coin into the vat. Judge Bao noticed that small circles of oil floated on the water.

The judge shouted:

"It was you, scoundrel, who stole the boy's money! Confess!"

The thief was terrified and began to tremble.

Judge Bao ordered the thief to be searched, and the guards found one hundred and ninety-nine coins on him. Together with the coin he had thrown into the vat, it made exactly two hundred coins. Judge Bao returned all two hundred coins to the boy and ordered the thief to be thoroughly beaten and driven out.

Only then did everyone understand why Judge Bao had needed to interrogate the stone slab. From that day on, people held the wise judge in even greater esteem than before.

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How They Tried to Torture a Stone Slab

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