Alexander of Macedon and the King of Africa's Just Verdict

Alexander of Macedon went off [to King Qatzya] beyond the Mountains of Darkness. He arrived at a province whose name was Carthage, and it was entirely [women]. They came out to meet him. They said to him: "If you wage war with us and conquer us, your name will go forth in the world as the [province] of women that he destroyed; and if we wage war with you and conquer you, your name will go forth in the world as: women waged war with him and conquered him, and you will never again stand before [any] kingdom." When he departed, he wrote upon the gate of the entrance: "I, Alexander of Macedon, was a fool until I came to the province of Carthage and learned counsel from women." He went to another province whose name was Africa. They came out to meet him [with golden apples], with golden pomegranates, and with golden bread. He said to them: "Is gold eaten in your land?" They said to him: "Was there [nothing to eat then] in your own land, that you have come to us?" He said to them: "I have not come to see your wealth; rather, I have come to see your judgments." While they were sitting, two men came for judgment before the king. One said: "My lord king, I bought a ruin from this man, and I cleared it out and found in it a treasure, and I said to him, 'Take your treasure, for I bought a ruin; a treasure I did not buy.'" And the other said: "Just as you fear the punishment for robbery, so too do I fear the punishment for robbery; and when I sold you the ruin, I sold you everything that is in it, from the depths of the earth to the height of the heavens." He called to one of them and said to him: "Do you have a son?" He said to him: "I have." He called to the other and said to him: "Do you have a daughter?" He said to him: "Yes." He said to them: "[Let them go] and marry one another, and let the two of them consume the treasure." Alexander began to wonder. The king said to him: "Why do you wonder—did I not judge well?" He said to him: "Yes." He said to him: "Had this case been in your land, what would you have done with it?" He said to him: "We would have killed this one and that one, and the treasure would go up to the king's house." He said to him: "And does the sun shine upon you?" He said to him: "Yes." "And does the rain come down upon you?" He said to him: "Yes." He said to him: "Perhaps there is small cattle in your land?" He said to him: "Yes." He said to him: "Woe to the spirit of that man! It is by the merit of the small cattle that the sun shines upon you and the rain comes down upon you, [and by the merit of the small cattle you are delivered]," as it is written, "Man and beast You save, O Lord" (Psalms 36:7)—by the merit of the beast You save man.