Mr Sheep Judge: A Fable about Justice

by Wenjiahui (Cindy) Han, Gungahlin College

One day, the animals in the village said, “We need a judge, who will punish evil and reward good.”

“But who will that animal be?” they asked.

“They would have to be kind,” said the donkey.

“They have to be clever,” said the hen.

“They must treat all animals fairly,” said the wolf.

Mr Sheep met all the criteria. He got a lot of votes and was elected as the judge.

All the animals present applauded Mr Sheep, and he was moved to tears and thanked everyone. The well-known local squire, Mr Goat, stroked his beard slowly and said proudly, “It was because of me, that he could achieve this today. I am his godfather. If the old sheep Benjamin hadn’t found me, but chose another animal to be his godfather, he wouldn’t be so good.”

Mr Sheep’s mother wiped her tears with a handkerchief: “To be honest, if a mother has such a promising son, what else does she want?” Then she added, “I’m still a little worried, but really, what kind of mother isn’t like this?” She looked at her son affectionately.

***

It was Mr Sheep’s first day at work, as the judge of the entire village. In the morning, he even ate an extra piece of sweet corn to refresh himself. From his hooves and neat fur, it could be seen that he valued the job.

But soon, Mr Sheep discovered that the job was not quite what he had imagined. It was not every day that there were cases that needed to be handled. It wasn’t bad; we couldn’t expect animals to commit crimes every day, could we?

Then Mr Sheep – it’s time to call him Judge Sheep – followed his promise. He punished evil and promoted good. He found justice for the plaintiff animals and served his duties. Animals said kindness ran in his blood, and principles were his backbone. Animals respected him, especially herbivores because the Judge Sheep expressly protected their rights. Of course, that’s one of the reasons he’d been chosen to be the judge in the first place. And so, the days passed by in this way.

***

But then one day, the peace was disturbed like a stone thrown into a calm lake.

Mrs Hen was accused of stealing two bags of corn from Mr Donkey. There was little suspense in the trial; Mr Donkey won, and the outcome of the trial was announced after an hour’s adjournment.

Judge Sheep walked slowly to the office, chewing a piece of corn in his mouth, intending to drink a good cup of alfalfa tea.

“Your Honour!”

He suddenly stopped, and when he looked back, it was Mrs Hen. “Is there anything I can do for you, ma’am?” he asked. Mrs Hen’s husband was a good friend of Judge Sheep’s godfather, and Mrs Hen was also a hen of noble character. Judge Sheep would rather believe she was wronged than she had done the crime. So, he thought, if she wanted to ask for a compassionate sentence, he would do what he could.

“Your Honour,” she said, looking ashamed and nervous. There was something in her arms. “I know this is difficult for you, but I have no choice. Since my husband passed away, the situation of my family has been getting worse and worse; to pay off his business I even sold the house. It’s all sold! And my chicks? They eat corn now when they used to eat only refined corn kernels. How can I afford it now? Seriously, I can’t believe how I did such a thing! If it wasn’t for my children…” she almost sobbed. “I have no choice,” she continued, wiping away tears with her cuff. “But Your Honour,” she took out a bag full of alfalfa from her bosom, “this is all I have for now. Please, this is about my reputation, my life. Please don’t spread the word about this and condemn me,” she cried.

Mrs Hen’s tears moved him and he accepted her plea. He should have left immediately to discuss with Mr Donkey the possibility of the stolen goods being returned to drop the charges. But he did a superfluous thing.

He took that bag of alfalfa.

Did he hesitate? Did he waver? We will never know. Did his hand shake when he took the bag? Did he find a thousand reasonable excuses to convince himself…. to keep his heart from bursting?

The only thing we know is that the white clouds in the sky have been dyed into a little grey at some point; it was small but cannot be ignored.

Mrs Hen was acquitted.

Mr Donkey agreed to drop the charge.

And the thing was done.

No secret is kept for long. It is still known to the animals that Mrs Hen was acquitted after being convicted of theft. But surprisingly, this thing didn’t cause too much fuss.

But something had changed.

Herbivore or carnivore – defendants would come to court with a bag of things, big or small. Plaintiffs also started coming to court with a bag, big or small.

Judge Sheep was getting fatter in inverse proportion to his moral level. He found a reasonable excuse, which means he could have found another, isn’t that so?

***

One day, as usual, the court received a complaint: the plaintiff was a stag and the defendant a tiger.

Tiger stood on the dock with a calm expression, wearing a fine grey woollen coat, and his eyes were cunning. The stag had all the negativity you could think of in a herbivore, with bloodshot eyes that smelled like despair, standing on the plaintiff’s box like the walking dead.

And in front of them? It was Judge Sheep. He was bloated, fat with grey-white fur spread on the judge’s desk like a lump of phlegm and smelling of fermented alfalfa.

“Your Honour,” Buck said, “this tiger…. this monster! Your honour, he killed my family, my wife and my two children.”

After hearing his words, Judge Sheep turned to Tiger and motioned Tiger to defend himself.

“Your Honour,” he said, looking apprehensive. “Mr Buck and I have an old friendship; I know very well that he suffers from depression and persecutory delusions. Poor Mr Buck, I’m so sorry for you, but you slandered me for killing your family, which was simply unreasonable! Your Honour, I believe in my innocence, and now I highly doubt that Mr Buck is mentally stable enough to provide a truly favourable confession…”

“You liar!” Buck interrupted. “How could and how dare you say that in front of the judge, in front of me?” He looked breathless, his chest heaving. “You are a monster! What kind of animal would say such a thing after they committed murder?”  He turned to Judge Sheep, his eyes full of anger and pain, and said, “Your Honour, I swear by my soul, that the tiger standing in front of you is lying. If you don’t believe me, get a medical examiner to examine my wife’s body.”

Tiger’s face suddenly took on a ghastly expression, like he wanted to tear Mr Buck’s mouth apart.

“Gentlemen,” said Judge Sheep, with alfalfa still on his teeth, “it seems that the matter is clear.”

The guards came in.

“I will announce the final decision of this court.”

The guards pinned Mr Buck to the ground and handcuffed his hooves.

“Beyond any shadow of a doubt.”

They grabbed Mr Buck’s hooves and stained them with red ink.

“Mr Buck, the plaintiff, has been confirmed to be mentally ill; the testimony will be nullified.” A consent form was pinned to Mr Buck’s hoof.

“The plaintiff has agreed to be treated in a mental hospital. Defendant Mr Tiger will be acquitted,” said Judge Sheep.

***

“There are obvious carnivore bite marks on the corpses, Sir, should we report it to our superiors?”

A bag was shoved into the young police officer’s paw.

“Shh! Don’t talk! Don’t look! Don’t listen!”