A king destroyed a stonemason more cruelly with a lie than with a weapon.

Evidence

So Khusraw sent a messenger with a lie: ‘Shirin is dead.’ Farhad, hearing it, threw down his chisel, and his heart broke, and he died there upon the mountain he had nearly conquered. The rock of Bisotun, the old poets say, still remembers the hammer of the man who loved enough to carve a mountain. — , A Year of World Stories, 11096

Categorization

• FICTION: The image of a mountain carved by a lover whose heart broke on a lie is strong story material — love-driven craft outliving both king and his deception.