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There is a tinge of irony in the lying traveller's response. Had we not been told he was a liar, then we might assume he was cleverly telling the truth, or like you said, telling a white lie.
It isn't hard to imagine the tyrant observed this cleverness and wished to reward it, being aware of the absurd station he occupied, but pleased that the lying traveller would humour him.
I think I mostly agree with your conclusion, except I'd say there are usually gradations of truth, and it is the tyrant who has the privelege to choose which one is best.
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I want to call this a lie, but struggle with it. It's what we'd call a white lie I guess. It's telling someone what they want to hear when they've done everything short of explicitly saying that they want to be lied to.
It may even be too much to call it a white lie. His response was something one could think of the ape as a king. It may not be the first, easiest, or only thought, but it is a thought one could have.
I take from this not that liars prosper, which they do in certain circumstances, but that telling people the most truthy truth, when it serves no one and there are other truthy truths one could tell, is foolish.