The story is told that one day Frederick the Great,
King of Prussia, visited a prison and talked with each of the prisoners. There
were endless tales of of innocence, of misunderstood motives, and of
exploitation. Finally the King stopped at the cell of a convict who remained
silent. "Well," remarked Frederick, "I supposed you are an
innocent victim too?" "No, sir, I'm not," replied the man.
"I'm guilty and deserve my punishment." Turning to the warden, the
king said, "Here, release this rascal before he corrupt all these fine
innocent people in here."
[Retold by Father John Fuellenbach, SVD in his book
"Throw Fire"]
A funny story and literally the prisoner is freed by telling the truth! TRUTH WILL SET US FREE!
ReplyDeleteYeah, when I read it I actually laughed at its irony.
ReplyDeleteIf I were Frederick, I would probably do the same.
I reminds me of the prayer of the pharisee and the tax collector. But in the story of Jesus, he praised the humility of the tax collection for professing his sinfulness before God.