Brencis and the Bible كتاب · المقتنيات

Once a soldier from Svartrau caught a manumit, put him in a cell and said:

"Why the hell do you want to kill Knyaz Brencis?! He's a holy man! The priests say he was mentioned in the Bible!"

And the manumit answered:

"He was. Twice, in fact – at the beginning and at the very end."

"Really?"

"You should check for yourself."

The next day the soldier came back outraged and shouted:

"You liar! I checked! At the beginning there's a snake who offers people false gifts! And at the end – a false prophet doing false miracles!"

The manumit held his breath, ready for the soldier to kill him for his joke. But the soldier went on:

"There's nothing about Knyaz Brencis there, not a word!"

"Oh," the manumit sighed with relief. "I must have misremembered, then."