Ever so long ago， two young men， Edmund and Oswald， appeared in court.

Edmund said to the judge， “Three years ago， when I left home I gave Oswald， who I thought was my best friend， a costly gold ring set with precious stones， and I asked him to keep it till I returned home. Now he says that he knows nothing about it.”

Placing his hand on his heart， Oswald said， “I declare on my honor that I know nothing about the ring. I am afraid that my good friend Edmund has been affected in his mental powers since he went away.”

The judge said， “Edmund， were there any witnesses who could testify that you gave the ring to Oswald？”

Edmund replied， “Unfortunately in the field where we were at the time there was nobody. We were talking beneath an old oak tree and there we were alone.”

Oswald said， “I am ready to swear that I know as little of the oak tree as I do of the ring.”

The judge said， “Edmund， go to that field again and bring back a branch of that oak tree. I wish to see it. Oswald， you wait here in the meantime， until Edmund comes back.”

So Edmund left.

After some time the judge said to Oswald， “How is it that Edmund is taking so long to return？ Go to the window and see if you can see him returning along the road.”

Oswald said， “Oh， my lord judge， he wouldnt have even reached the tree yet—the tree is more than an hours walk from here.”

When the judge heard this， he was very angry， “You know as much about the tree as you do about the ring. For the next year while you are in prison you will have time to think about the necessity of always telling the truth.”

很 久以前，兩個年輕人埃德蒙和奧斯瓦爾德上了法庭。

埃德蒙對法官說：“三年前離開家時，我把奧斯瓦爾德當(dāng)作我最好的朋友，就交給他一枚鑲嵌了珍貴寶石的價值連城的金戒指，請他幫我保管，等我回家時再還給我。但是現(xiàn)在，他說他壓根就不知道有這么一回事。”

奧斯瓦爾德將手放在胸口，說：“我以我的名譽(yù)擔(dān)保，我對那枚戒指一無所知?？峙率俏业暮门笥寻５旅呻x開家后腦子出了什么問題吧?！?/p>

法官說：“埃德蒙，當(dāng)時是否有證人在場，可以證明你把戒指交給了奧斯瓦爾德？”

埃德蒙答道：“很不幸，我們待的那地方當(dāng)時沒有別的人。那時我們在一棵老橡樹下說話，那兒只有我們倆。”

奧斯瓦爾德說：“我可以發(fā)誓，我對這什么老橡樹就像對那枚戒指一樣一無所知?！?/p>

法官說：“埃德蒙，去那個地方折一根那棵橡樹的樹枝回來，我想看一下。奧斯瓦爾德，這段時間你就在這兒待著，一直等到埃德蒙回來?！?/p>

于是，埃德蒙出發(fā)了。

過了一會兒，法官對奧斯瓦爾德說：“埃德蒙怎么這么久還沒回來？你去窗戶邊瞧瞧，看他是不是正在回來的路上呢?！?/p>

奧斯瓦爾德說：“哎，法官大人，他可能還沒走到那棵樹那兒呢，從這兒走到那棵樹至少要一個多小時?！?/p>

法官聽到后勃然大怒：“看來你很了解那棵樹，那枚戒指的下落你也一樣清楚。往后在監(jiān)獄里的這一年，你將有的是時間去想想始終說真話的必要性?！眅ndprint