The tyrant Temures

I love getting the opportunity to cite the House of Lords in otherwise staid legal memos. From Sirius International Insurance Company v. FAI General Insurance Limited, [2004] UKHL 54, Lord Steyn, para. 19:

The tendency should therefore generally speaking be against literalism. What is literalism? It will depend on the context. But an example is given in The Works of William Paley (1838 ed), Vol III, 60. The moral philosophy of Paley influenced thinking on contract in the 19th century. The example is as follows: The tyrant Temures promised the garrison of Sebastia that no blood would be shed if they surrendered to him. They surrendered. He shed no blood. He buried them all alive. This is literalism. If possible it should be resisted in the interpretative process.