At ‘Linhuai‘, a silk merchant was carrying a piece of waterproof silk to the city for sale. There came a rain and he spread it over his head for shelter, and soon another man came to stand under it. When the rain had stopped, both of them claimed that the silk was his own. The Chief Minister ‘Hsueh Hsuan’ said: “This piece of waterproof silk is only worth several hundred cash. Why fight over it?”
Thereupon he cut it in two and gave each one half. As he continued to watch them, he saw the owner was protesting that he had been wronged, while the other man seemed well satisfied. And so he knew to which one the silk right-fully belonged, and the other man was found guilty and punished.
[From Sketches of Chinese Wisdom]