There was, once upon a time, a merchant prince who came to a city he did not know, and there he began to trade. At first he did very well, but then one day disaster struck, and he lost nearly everything in one way or another. When he investigated his affairs carefully, he discovered that he had been betrayed by an employee who, by pretending close friendship,  had stolen all his secrets and sold them to other traders.

Outraged, the merchant prince went to a judge and laid the case before him. The judge listened carefully, and then said, “If this is true, the man had been untrue to his word, and deserves punishment. I will investigate, of course, but if I find him guilty, what penalty do you demand?”

“In my land,” the merchant replied bitterly, “if a man cannot stand by his word, he has no honour and he cannot live. He deserves to die.”

The judge looked seriously at the merchant, and asked, “Then, you are also prepared to die?”

The merchant looked at the judge in surprise. “I?  What do you mean?”

“I do not know the law of your land,” the judge said, “but our law is that the consequence of death is death. That is the natural order of the universe. Therefore, if you seek the death of this man, someone from your side must also die. Since you are not from this land and have no family here, it must be you yourself who would pay the price of death.”