Greatpoets...

[greenstorm]

...strikes again. This one seems very poly in sensibility to me, but of course, it wasn't intended for that purpose.

A Fable
by Louise Gluck

Two women with
the same claim
came to the feet
of the wise king. Two women,
but only one baby.
The king knew
someone was lying.
What he said was
let the child be
cut in half; that way
no one will go
empty-handed. He
drew his sword.
Then, of the two
women, one
renounced her share:
this was
the sign, the lesson.
Suppose
you saw your mother
torn between two daughters:
what could you do
to save her but be
willing to destroy
yourself--she would know
who was the rightful child,
the one who couldn't bear
to divide the mother.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_greenwitch_/]

That gave me chills

[dunfalach.livejournal.com]

Two women with
the same claim
came to the feet
of the wise king. Two women,
but only one baby.
The king knew
someone was lying.
What he said was
let the child be
cut in half; that way
no one will go
empty-handed. He
drew his sword.
Then, of the two
women, one
renounced her share:
this was
the sign, the lesson.

This half of it isn't a fable, by the way. It was the event that first spread the fame of Solomon's wisdom throughout Israel. I Kings 3:16-28 if you're interested in knowing the full story.