The Mouthful of the Judge

A retelling of a story 'Abdu'l-Bahá told at lunch, as recorded in Fujita's 1919 pilgrim notes (entry of 20 November 1919). Pilgrim notes are a personal record of what was said; they do not carry the authority of the Bahá'í Writings. The narrative is in our own words; the line in quotation marks is from the notes. Read the original notes for the full entry.

At lunch in Haifa on 20 November 1919, a dish was served that had a name of its own: "the mouthful of the judge." 'Abdu'l-Bahá told the friends at the table how it came to be called that.

Two men once quarrelled over a piece of land, disputing where the boundary lay. One of them invited the judge to his house and gave him dinner. The dinner was eggs. Afterwards the judge decided the case in this man's favour and gave him ten metres of the other man's land.

When the second man learned of this, he also invited the judge to dinner, and among the courses he served this delicious dish. The judge was charmed by it. He went back and reversed his decision, giving the second man twenty metres.

The first man asked him why. The judge replied:

The first decision was based upon eggs … but this one was based upon something far more delicious.

From then on, 'Abdu'l-Bahá said, the dish was called the mouthful of the judge.

Retold for the Bahá'í Story Library from a pilgrim's record, not an authoritative text. The quoted line is from Fujita's 1919 pilgrim notes; see the source for the original.

Fujita, S.. (1919). *Fujita's Pilgrim Notes (1919)*. Bahá'í Library Online. https://bahai-library.com/fujita_pilgrims_notes