nward by the devil. Murder had been committed on a
brother, and perhaps murdered Abel lay for days unburied. Thereupon,
as Cain returned to his parents at the accustomed time, and Abel
returned not with him, the anxious parents asked him: Cain, thou art
here, but where is Abel? Thou hast returned home, but Abel has not
returned. The flock is without their shepherd. Tell us therefore,
where thy brother is. Upon this, Cain, becoming abusive, makes answer
to his parents, by no means with due reverence, "I know not: Am I my
brother's keeper?"

119. But it happened to Cain as to all the wicked, that by excusing
himself he accused himself, according to the words of Christ, "Out of
thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant," Luke 19, 22.
Also the heathen had a striking proverb among them, "A liar ought to
have a good memory." Such was the judgment of heathen men, though they
knew nothing of the judgment of God and of conscience, and had nothing
to guide their judgment but their experience in civil affairs. And
true it is that liars run much risk of being discovered and unmasked.
Hence the Germans have the proverb, "A lie is a very fruitful thing."
For one lie begets seven other lies, which become necessary to uphold
the first lie. And yet it is impossible, after all, to prevent
conscience from arousing and betraying itself at times, if not in
words, then in gestures. This is proved by numberless examples. I will
cite only one example here:

120. In Thuringia there is a small town in the district of Orla,
called Neustadt. In this town a harlot had murdered her infant, to
which she had secretly given birth, and had thrown it, after the
murder, into a neighboring fishpond. Accidentally the little piece of
linen in which she had wrapped the infant, brought the horrid deed to
light. The case was brought before the magistrate; and as the simple
men of the place knew no better means of investigating the crime, they
called all the young women of the town into the town hall and closely
examined them, one by one. The face and the testimony of each one of
these proclaimed her innocent. But when they came to her who was the
real perpetrator of the deed, she did not wait for questions to be put
to her, but immediately declared aloud that she was not the guilty
person. The contrast she presented to the others in making such haste
to defend herself, confirmed the suspicion of the magistrates. At once
she was seized by the cons