K K stated that he did not take G G G’s ducks. The father of G G G gave him a duck. (All laughed.) It is true that F F F killed two antelopes and gave him the two legs as a gift but he did not tie up his wife or require money for her release.
Consul: “That is all right. That finishes the ducks and the antelopes’ legs; but now I want to hear about I I’s hand. Tell me what you know about I I’s hand being cut off.”
K K again evaded the question.
Consul: “Tell him this. He is put here by his master in this town, is he not? This is his town. Now, does he say he does not know what goes on here where he lives?”
The sentry states: “It is true that this is his town, but he knows nothing about I I’s hand being cut off. Perhaps it was the first sentry here before he came, who was a very bad man and cut people’s hands off. That sentry has gone away—it was he who cut hands off, not himself. He does not know anything of it.”
Consul: “What was the name then of this bad sentry, your predecessor, who cut people’s hands off? You know it?”
The sentry gives no direct answer, and the question is repeated. He then gives a statement about several sentries, naming three, as predecessors of himself here at R**.
Here a man named H H H jumped up, interrupting, and asserted that those three sentries did not reside at R**, but had been stationed in his own town—his, H H H’s, town.
Consul (to the sentry): “How long have you been in this town?”
Answer: “Five months.”