A
certain king had three sons and one precious stone. When the hour of
his death had come, he reflected that his sons would dispute for the
possession of the stone. Now he loved one of his three sons better than
the others, wherefore he caused three similar rings to be made and two
glass imitations resembling the precious stone; he then had the three
stones set in their respective rings. Lest his plan should fail, the
father called his three sons to him, and gave to each the ring destined
for him, giving the best one to the son he most loved. After the
father's death each of the sons declared that he had the ring with the
precious stone. Hearing this, a sage said : " Let us make a test, for
that ring which can cure disease is the most precious." The test was
made, and two of the rings had no effect, but that with the precious
stone cured the disease ; whence it became manifest which of the sons
had been best loved by his father." 24
It
was this medieval tale that suggested to the German dramatic poet and
critic, Lessing, the celebrated parable of the three rings, which he
puts into the mouth of Nathan the Sage,25 in answer to
Saladin's question as to whether the true religion was Judaism,
Christianity or Mohammedanism. Nathan likens them to the three rings
given by the father to his sons, the secret as to which was the genuine
magic ring being hidden from them. Pursuing the parable, he makes the
sons, after the father's death, bring their dispute before a court of
justice. The judge having heard the testimony, at first declares that
it is impossible for him to determine which of the rings is the genuine
one; then, after a moment's thought, he recalls the statement that the
hearts of all will be drawn toward him who has it, and asks which of
24 " Die Gesta Romanorum," ed. Wilhelm Dick, Erlangen, 1890, pp. 65, 66.
25 " Nathan der Weise," Act ΙΠ, sc. 7, 11. 395 sqq.
