Question
Who is the real culprit according to the king? Why does he escape punishment?
Solution
The king applied a very weird logic to come to the conclusion. According to the King, the real culprit was the merchant as he had inherited everything from his father so he should take the responsibility of his father's sin as well. As the merchant was too thin to fit on the new execution stake so he escaped execution. The king concluded that a man fat enough to fit the stake will serve the purpose.
