When the Mulla was mad a Cadi {magistrate} he was faced
with a difficult problem.
   In an assault case the plaintiff said that the defendant had
bitten his ear. The defense was that the plaintiff had bitten
it himself.
   ‘This is a clear conflict of evidence, because there are no
witnesses,’ said the Mulla. ‘There is only one way to decide
this, I therefore adjourn the Court for half an hour.’
   He went into a room attached to the court-house, and spent
the time trying to bite his own ear. Every time he tried he lost
his balance and fell over, bruising his head.
   When the Court reassembled, the Mulla said: ‘Examine the
head of the plaintiff. If it is bruised, he bit his own ear, and I
find for the defendant. If, on the other hand, there is no bruise,
the other man bit his ear, and that is assault.’