Once upon a time there lived a king. He issued a decree in his kingdom stating that anyone who committed an offense worthy of the death penalty could be pardoned if he told three truths that could not be refuted.
And then one day a certain soldier committed such an offense, and the culprit was going to be executed. The soldier ran away and disappeared into the forest. But the king ordered his soldiers to catch him. They caught the soldier and brought him to the judge.
- Do you know the new decree? - asked the judge.
“Yes, I know,” answered the soldier.
-Can you tell three truths that cannot be refuted? - asked the judge.
“Yes,” answered the soldier.
“Well, call them that,” the judge ordered. And the soldier said:
“If anyone tells you that I was bad from birth, don’t believe him.”
“Yes, that’s true,” the judge agreed, “a person cannot be bad from birth.”
And the soldier said the second truth:
“If anyone tells you that I’m having a lot of fun now, don’t believe him.”
“There is truly no person who would be happy in your position,” the judge agreed. And the soldier said:
“If anyone tells you that if I run away now, I will voluntarily return here, don’t believe him either.”
“Your truth,” confirmed the judge, “there is no person who, having barely escaped the jaws of death, would climb into it again.” Your truths cannot be refuted.
And the soldier was released.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru