Once upon a time there was a hyena and a monkey.

The hyena and the monkey had an argument. They went to a judge to settle their differences.

After the judge listened to their case he was afraid to pass judgement on their case.

He thought to himself, "If I condemn the hyena, it will eat all my cattle. And if I condemn the monkey, he will eat up all my corn! So, what am I to do?"

The judge thought for a while, and said, "The case is too difficult for me to judge alone. You should go to the elders of the village."

So the hyena and monkey went to the elders.

They told the elders about their disagreement.

After the elders listened to their case, they were also afraid to pass judgement.

If they supported the monkey, the hyena might eat their cattle. If they supported the hyena, the monkey might eat their corn. The elders told the Hyena and Monkey that their case was very difficult.

Suddenly, the elders remembered a poor woman in the town. She had nothing to lose, neither cattle nor corn.

"She can pass the judgement without any fear," said the elders to one another. They told the two animals to go to her.

They arrived at the poor woman’s house and asked her to give them judgement. She agreed.

But, she told them to speak to her separately, one by one.

First the poor woman called Hyena and said, "You are respected, a big animal, and a hero. How could you quarrel with this small and miserable monkey?"

The poor woman said to Hyena, "If people heard about this disagreement, they would look down on you. Stop the quarrel with Monkey."

"Of course you are right,” said Hyena. “I will drop this case. I will end the argument."

Then the poor woman called the monkey and she said, "You are smart and pretty. Why do you argue with this dirty, smelly animal who eats rotten things? What will people think of you when they hear about your argument with this ugly creature?"

After a while Monkey said, "You are right! I will drop this case."

After that, the poor woman called both of them and said, "You both agreed to drop this case. So, you should forgive each other."

Both animals apologised to each other and settled their dispute.

When people from the town heard this story, they were surprised. The poor woman solved the problem that the judge and the elders failed to solve.