Source
The dim light of the torches cast dancing shadows in the gloomy hall.
The accused walked to the bench, his defiant gaze fixed on the masked judge.
-Will you swear to tell the whole lie and nothing but the lie? -the distorted voice boomed through the stone walls.
The prisoner smiled a crooked smile.
-The truth brings only suffering. Those who profess it end up at the stake or the gallows. I prefer to lie until my last breath.
-And how do you plead?
-Innocent, of course.
Unhinged laughter broke out among those assembled. In this world of falsehoods and summary executions, truth was a cardinal sin.
