Why did he not discern from their argument who the real mother is? One said the live one is mine (indicating that she wants it), the dead is yours and the other did not say the same thing but the opposite, the dead is yours (indicating that if I cannot have it, you should not have it either) and the live one is mine. Obviously the first one is the real mother.
There is an interesting story from the German author, Bertolt Brecht called The Chalk Circle. Two women claimed that an older girl belonged to them. The judge ruled to draw a circle and then place the girl in it. The two women will hold the girls hand on either side of the circle. The idea was that the real mother will pull stronger to pull her out of the circle. What really happened is that one of the women let go in order not to harm her by pulling her apart. The judge ruled that this was the real mother.
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