came to his turn to watch, beholding the
captivating female form, prayed that it might be endowed with life, and
immediately the effigy became animated. In the morning all four fell in
love with the charming damsel, each claiming her for himself; the
carpenter, because he had carved her with his own hands; the goldsmith,
because he had adorned her with gems; the tailor, because he had
suitably clothed her; and the dervish, because he had, by his
intercession, endowed her with life. While they were thus disputing, a
man came to the spot, to whom they referred the case. On seeing the
woman, he exclaimed: "This is my own wife, whom you have stolen from
me," and compelled them to come before the kutwal, who, on viewing her
beauty, in his turn claimed her as the wife of his brother, who had been
waylaid and murdered in the desert. The kutwal took them all, with the
woman, before the kazi, who declared that she was his slave, who had
absconded from his house with a large sum of money. An old man who was
present suggested that they should all seven appeal to the Tree of
Decision, and thither they went accordingly; but no sooner had they
stated their several claims than the trunk of the tree split open, the
woman ran into the cleft, and on its reuniting she was no more to be
seen. A voice proceeded from the tree, saying: "Everything returns to
its first principles"; and the seven suitors of the woman were
overwhelmed with shame.[45]

[45] So, too, Boethius, in his _De Consolatione Philosophiae_,
says, according to Chaucer's translation: "All thynges
seken ayen to hir [i.e. their] propre course, and all
thynges rejoysen on hir retournynge agayne to hir
nature."--A tale current in Oude, and given in _Indian
Notes and Queries_ for Sept. 1887, is an illustration of
the maxim that "everything returns to its first
principles": A certain prince chose his friends out of
the lowest class, and naturally imbibed their principles
and habits. When the death of his father placed him on
the throne, he soon made his former associates his
courtiers, and exacted the most servile homage from the
nobles. The old vazir, however, despised the young king
and would render none. This so exasperated him that he
called his counsellors together to advise the most
excruciating of tortures for the old man. Said one: "Let
him b