When all the people had assembled, the king, surrounded
by his court, xx1xx a signal. Then a door beneath
him opened, and the accused man stepped out into the arena. Directly opposite
him were two doors, exactly xx2xx and side by side.
It was the duty and the privilege of the person on trial to walk directly to these
xx3xx and open one of them. He xx4xx
open either door he pleased; he was subject to no guidance or influence but that
of impartial and incorruptible chance. If he opened the one, there came out of
it a hungry tiger, the fiercest and most cruel that could be found, which xx5xx
sprang upon him and tore him to pieces as a punishment for his guilt. But, if
the accused person opened the other door, out of it came a xx6xx
lady, and to this lady he was immediately married, as a reward of his innocence.
This was the xx7xx method of administering justice.
Its perfect fairness is obvious. The criminal could xx8xx
know out of which door would come the lady; he opened either he pleased, without
having the slightest xx9xx whether, in the next instant,
he was to be devoured or married. So the accused person was instantly xx10xx
if guilty, and, if innocent, he was rewarded on the spot.
Adapted from The
Lady or the Tiger by Frank Stockton