There once was a saint who would spend his time underneath a beautiful tree in the forest. Day and night he would practice deep meditation. He was exceedingly noble, and always sought to do what was right. One day, a stranger came running towards the saint with a look of fear on his face. He said in an exasperated voice:

Stranger: “Holy Sir! I am being chased by a group of bandits. I am going to climb up this tree and hide from them. Since you are an upright man, I know you will not tell them where I am hiding. If they find me, they will kill me!”

Then the man hurried up the tree and hid. Not hearing any response from the saint, he naturally assumed that his secret would be safe and that the saint would not betray him. But immediately the saint began to struggle in his mind what he should say to the bandits when they came. He thought to himself:

Saint: “It is of utmost important to always tell the truth and never tell a lie. It is better to lose my tongue than lie about where this man is hiding.”

But then he doubted himself:

Saint: “But speaking the truth will mean that this man will be killed!”

Finally he decided that if the bandits pressed him for an answer, he would say:

Saint: “I know where the man is, but I will not tell you.”

The saint made his resolve strong, and just then saw the pursuing bandits coming from off in the distance. One of the bandits said to him:

Bandit: “Look holy man: if you tell me where that man is hiding, we’ll leave you alone.”

Thinking the bandits might just go away, the saint remained silent. But the bandits meant business, and they cruelly beat the saint. Even still, the noble-minded saint kept silent. The bandits realized that more would be needed to make him talk, so one of them drew out his sword and said:

Bandit: “You have 5 minutes to tell me where he is, or I’ll kill you.”

The saint sat still for the entire 5 minutes, and sticking to his plan said:

Saint: “I know where he is, but I will not tell you.”

Then the bandit replied:

Bandit: “So it seems that a beating and a threat with a sword were enough to make you break your silence. I wonder if we go farther whether or not you will say more!”

Then the bandit mercilessly cut off one of the saint’s hands. Then the bandit said:

Bandit: “Now, you have 5 minutes to tell us where he is.”

The saint thought about everything he had learned in his life, and tried to decide what has the moral thing to do. He thought to himself:

Saint: “I am living a noble and fruitful life. It would be wrong of me to let this body die and go to waste simply for the sake of a stranger. It is important to protect oneself. I would be a fool to both die and fail to tell the truth.”

So when the 5 minutes were up, the saint lifted a finger and pointed up into the tree. The bandits immediately dragged the man out of the tree and ended his life.

Years rolled on, and the saint lived out his life until he finally passed away. Expecting eternal peace, he was surprised to find himself in hell! Then Death appeared before him and said:

Death: “Don’t worry. You will be going to a realm of eternal peace, but for a couple of minutes you first have to see hell because of one terrible sin you committed.”

The saint replied:

Saint: “But my entire life I have always carefully weighed every decision, and have always done what is right. How is it that even these 2 minutes I have to see hell?”

Then Death replied:

Death: “You say you have never done anything wrong, but then why did you let your hand get cut off and let a man be murdered unnecessarily? Truthful actions always result in the most good, whereas your actions resulted in the most bad.

“Firstly, you should not have kept silent when the stranger came to you. You gave him the wrong impression that you would protect him. You deprived him of the possibility of looking for another hiding place.

“Secondly, you should not have kept silent and lost your hand for no good reason.

“Thirdly, you should not have pointed to the tree and been the cause of a murder!

“Why didn’t you just point in the wrong direction and send the bandits away? Even though it would have been a lie, it would have been much better than what you did.”

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