code: def read_file(fname):
      
      assert os.path.exists(fname), "\n--%s-- Warning: File `%s' does not exist. . ." \
          % (current_time(), fname)
      with open(fname, 'rb') as fp:
          return fp.read().decode('utf-8')
docs: read_file(fname : str) -> str
  
      >>> read_file(r'C:\\mine\\test.lisp')
      r'(print "No, no, there\'s \\r\\nlife in him!. ")\\r\\n\\r\\n'
  
      The file is read in binary mode in order to preserve original line endings.
          Line ending    Binary mode Text mode
              CRLF            CRLF    LF
              CR              CR      LF