There was once a powerful king who ruled his kingdom with an
...iron fist. And with good reason. The vast majority of his subjects were a rowdy
bunch. It was a dog-eat-dog existence, with each man out for himself. One day,
a man by the name of Nathanael was caught stealing an apple from an apple-cart vendor. Now, you should know that Nathanael was not really a bad person. It
wasn’t really in his nature to steal anything from anyone. But after living
among so many scoundrels for so many years, he simply gave in to his
selfishness on this one occasion. He picked a bad time to make his first
mistake.
The King was in a particularly foul mood because the crime
rate had risen for seven straight days. The King knew he had to make an example of someone in order to send a message to the rest of the people-and so it was that Nathanael was sentenced to die for his crime. The first-time bandit
accepted his fate without any fuss. After all, he had no one to blame but
himself.
The King asked Nathanael if he had any last request. He did.
Nathanael asked if he could have three days to settle his affairs. Nathanael
had to pay off some business debts, he owed a few personal favors, and he
wanted to say good-bye to all of his loved ones. He figured that in three days,
he could tidy it all up. The King was impressed by Nathanael’s acceptance of
his fate and his sense of responsibility, so he agreed to accommodate this last
request. But there was an obvious problem. “If I grant you this temporary
reprieve.” The King said, “I have no assurances that you will ever return to
fulfill your sentence.” Nathanael understood the Kind’s dilemma. “I have an
idea,” Nathanael responded. “Suppose I have a good friend stand in for me until
I return. If I am late, you can execute my friend in my place.” The King
laughed. “If you can find someone who will take your place, I will grant you
your three days. But if you are even one minute late, you can be sure your
friend will be hanged on the gallows.”
Nathanael asked his best friend, a shopkeeper by the name of Simon, to stand in his place. Simon and Nathanael had known one another since childhood. And Simon loved Nathanael like a brother, so he told his best friend that he would be honored to go into temporary custody on his behalf. Simon was handcuffed and detained while Nathanael hurried off to wind up his affairs. “Remember,” the King yelled out, “one minute late and I will hang your best friend.”
One day passed; then two more. Nathanael never showed up. He
was one hour late when the King ordered Simon to the gallows, where he was
confronted with the hangman’s rope. A noose was slipped around Simon’s neck.
The hangman tightened it. A hood was put over Simon’s head. And then, suddenly, a voice was heard screaming from far off in the distance. “Stop! Stop! I have returned!” It was Nathanael. “Please, I beg you,” Nathanael cried to the King. “Remove noose from my best friend. This is my fate, not his.” But the King replied, “You are an hour late.”
Nathanael was so out of breath he could hardly talk. “You
don’t understand, Your Majesty. My horse became lame. I was forced to run all
the way back. That is why I am late. It is I who should die, not my dear
friend.”
Suddenly Simon began to cry out. The hangman removed the hood from his head. “That is not true. I am the one who should die today. We had an agreement. Besides, I could not stand to sit here and watch my best friend die before my eyes. Nor could I bear living without you. So it will be I who will die today.”
Nathanael’s eyes welled up with tears. “I beg you, Your Majesty. Do not listen to him. Do not let my best friend die. It is I who was originally sentenced to death, not Simon. If you kill him, I will not be able to live with the pain of seeing my dear friend depart from this earth. I beg you to take me. “Simon and Nathanael continued arguing, and not surprisingly, the King was taken aback. In a land rampant with hooligans, the King was not accustomed to seeing acts of unconditional love. Nevertheless, a decision had to be made, and justice had to be meted out according to the law of the land.
“I have reached a final verdict,” the King said. “Today, neither one of you shall die. For I realize that if one of you dies today, I will be killing two men. The original sentence called for only one man to die. Thus, I am forced to set you both free.”
