The Wise King and the Two Mothers

Once there was a king, known throughout his kingdom and beyond as the wisest of all men.
One day a situation arose where two women claimed to be the mother of a newborn. No one could confirm who the real mother was, so their case was presented to the wise king. He listened to the two claim motherhood over the baby. Both were convincing and the king could not make his decision. Wise king that he was, he came up with an idea to flush out the real mother.
Before everyone in his court, he told both women that he would cut the baby in half so that each of them would have a piece of the child. In his mind, he knew that the real mother would rather give her baby to the other woman than have the baby killed.
However, the false mother, burdened with her guilty conscience, shrieked, calling out to the wise king to spare the baby and give it to the other claimant (it was really her baby after all).
Upon witnessing this noble and selfless act, the king gave the baby to the false mother and had the real mother put to death.