'My child, they bring a man hither whom they have taken by the hand, and they say: "He has taken something, he has committed a theft." (When he denies, they say), "Heat the hatchet for him." If he committed the theft, then he makes himself to be what he is not. Then the false-minded, having covered his true Self by a falsehood, grasps the heated hatchet—he is burnt, and he is killed.

In plain words: The father describes an old trial by ordeal. A man accused of theft denies it and must hold a red-hot axe. If he really stole and lies, he hides his true self behind a falsehood, and he is burned and killed.