‘It shall be heard,’ replied the Rajah. ‘Thou art a wise man; what dost thou say?—dog—cat—dog and cat, or cat and dog? For my own part, I still reserve my decision, though somewhat inclining to the opinion that the cat caused all the mischief, and for this reason,—because if the dog had not seen the cat, he very probably would not have chased her—“out of sight out of mind” being one of our oldest as well as truest proverbs.’ ‘Alas! that I should differ with your Highness—Brave Falcon, terrible in War—the most valiant of the State—the Tiger of the Country,’ replied the Prime Minister. ‘How could the cat help being worried by the dog?—and did not nature give her a right to go where she pleased?’ So the whole Court took at once different sides, and matters might have come to a serious explosion, even within the sacred walls of the palace itself, but for the Brahmin, who again lifted up his voice and said:— ‘May it please your Highness! Let me declare to you that it was neither the dog nor the cat that caused all this misery, but the _Fly_ and the Honey!’ ‘The fly and the honey! The fly and the honey!’ exclaimed the astonished Rajah. ‘What honey, and what fly?’ And, as this was a perfectly new idea, the assembly listened with profound attention while the holy man unfolded the true history of the case. His having seen the stranger, and warned the people against him. How accurately he had observed the drop of honey dabbed against the wall. Then the approach of the fly, the sly gliding of the lizard, the wily creeping of the cat, and the stealthy vindictive movements of the dog—involving all these creatures in much pain and difficulty, and which afterwards overspread the city. ‘Hold, learned man,’ cried the Rajah, ‘thou hast well said; my eyes are opened!’ and he desired search to be made for the man who had too well earned the title of Mischief-Maker. But he was no where to be either found or heard of; and the poor flour-dealer, who stood among the prisoners with a bandaged head, declared that the villain had not even paid for the honey that had caused the whole tumult. ‘Well,’ exclaimed the Rajah, after a profound pause; ‘here now may most plainly be seen a proof—if any such were required—that my subjects only want a pretext, no matter what, to quarrel, and they are sure to go to loggerheads. ‘I now throw no blame upon either the cat or the dog; for each animal followed its own peculiar instinct. The blame and the punishment too, must light upon the owners of the dog and cat for fighting, and thus inducing others to espouse so ridiculous a quarrel.’ And forthwith he ordered all the principal rioters into confinement, saying also to the rest of the people:—