Disinterestedness
Illustration★★★★Heathen, Coleridge somewhere relates a story to this effect:—Alexander, during his march into Africa, came to a people dwelling in peaceful huts, who neither knew war nor conquest, and gold being offered to him, he refused it, saying, that his sole object was to learn the manners and customs of the inhabitants. “Stay with us,” said the chief, ‘‘as long as it pleaseth thee.” During the interview with the African chief, two of his subjects brought a case before him for judgment.
The dispute was this: the one had bought of the other a piece of ground, which after the purchase was found to contain a treasure, for which he felt bound to pay. The other refused to receive anything, stating that when he sold the ground he sold it wit all the advantages apparent or concealed which it might be found to afford.
Said the chief, looking at the one, “ You have a son;” and to the other, “you have a daughter—let them be married, and the treasure be given to them as a dowry.” Alexander was astonished. “And what,” said the chief, “ would have been the decision in your country?” “We should have dismissed the parties,” said Alexander, “and seized the treasure for the king’s use.”
“And does the sun shine on your country?” said the chief, “does the rain fall there ? are there any cattle there which feed upon the herbs and grass?” “ Certainly,” said Alexander. “Ah,” said the chief, “it is for these innocent cattle that the Great Being permits the sun to shine, the rain to fall, and the grass to grow in your country.” FY.
F. Trench.
The point
An African chief's compassionate ruling over a hidden treasure convicts Alexander the Great, who admits his own kingdom would have seized it out of greed rather than showing mercy.