Ever
read The Fable of the Fool? Author-editor-photographer-painter Alfredo Roces e-mailed
that query to us from Australia. No, I hadn't. Even the gentleman, Ding translated
the fable from its original Spanish and sent it on. Here's the tale:
"It
is told..," Ding began. (Wasn't that the "once upon a time" of
our childhood story-telling?) In a town, far from the main highways, a group of
persons would amuse themselves with the town's fool. This was a poor wretch, of
limited intelligence, who lived on alms and performed small errands for a tip.
And
every day saw an unchanging routine. Someone would call the fool to the bar.
As
the others gathered round, the tormentor-of-the-day would hold up two coins. The
large one was worth 400 reales. But the smaller one was the 2,000 reales coin.
"Choose one," the tormentor would say.
Without
fail, the fool always picked the larger coin of smaller value. Whereupon, the
crowd would erupt into raucous laughter which led to much back-slapping and additional
jests from everyone else.
One
day, a stranger observed the group poke fun at what seemed a clueless man. Quietly,
he took the fool aside and asked him: After all the daily exchange, did he still
not understand that the coin of larger size was worth less?
"Of
course I know," the fool whispered. "I'm not stupid. Sure, the bigger
coin is worth five times less. But the day I choose the smaller coin, the game
would be over. And I'll no longer get any coin at all."
This
fable could end here, as a simple joke. But reflect on these conclusions.
First:
Someone who appears to be a fool is not always so. Second: Who were the real fools
in this tale?
We
can be fine even when others do not have a good opinion of us. After all, what
matters is not what others think of us, but what we think of ourselves. And the
truly intelligent person is one who can pretend to be a fool in front of a fool
who pretends to be intelligent.
Isn't
this a recycled version of Hans Christian Andersen's fable of the folly of killing
the goose that lays the golden egg. But the newest version of that tale is about
"cannibals and workplace diversity." It goes this way:
"Recently,
a large firm hired several cannibals to increase its staffing diversity. "You're
all part of the team now," the Human Resources manager said during the briefing.
"You'll get the usual benefits, plus entry to the cafeteria. But please,
do not eat any of our employees." All pledged they would not do so.
Four
weeks later, they were called in by the boss. "You're all working hard and
I'm satisfied with your performance," he began. "There's been an up-tick
in the firm's sales. However,
one of our secretaries disappeared. Anyone know what happened to her?"
"No,"
the cannibals said. But after the boss left, leader said to the other cannibals:
"O.K.
Come clean. Which of you idiots ate the secretary?"
A
hand rose hesitantly. "You fool!" the leader roared. "For four
weeks, we've been eating managers and no one noticed. But NOOOOOooooo, you had
to eat somebody who actually does some work."
And
then, there came the "Fable of the Two Lines." It is told that everyone
on earth had died. All were waiting to enter Paradise. Then, God suddenly appeared
and ordered: "I want the men to make two lines. One line is for the men who
were true heads of their households. And the other line will be for the men who
were dominated by their girl friends or their wives."
What
about the ladies? "They are to report to Saint Peter," the Lord replied.
Soon, the women were gone.
All
that was left were two lines of men. The first line was of men who were dominated
by women. This stretched for over a hundred kilometers. And in the line for men,
who truly were heads of their household, there stood only one man.
"You
men should be ashamed of yourselves!" God said. "I created you to be
the head of your household! You have been disobedient and have not fulfilled your
purpose! Of all of you, only one obeyed. Learn from him." God then turned
to the solitary man, "How did you manage to be the only one in this line?"
"I
don't know," the man answered. "My wife told me to stand here."
"Okay,
okay! It all makes sense now," the lady editor erupted on hearing this tale.
"Look at it this way," she said: "MEN tal illness. MEN strual cramps.
MEN tal breakdown. GUY necologist. And when we have real trouble, it is HIS terectomy.
Ever notice, how all of women's problems start with MEN."
Don't
end a Sunday column on that sour note. Use instead this item titled: "Beautifully
Stated", she wrote, adding the source was anonymous.
"As
we grow up, we learn that even the one person who wasn't supposed to ever let
you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once.
And it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too. So remember how it felt when
yours was broken.
"You'll
cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love.
So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt.
Because
every 60 seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.
"Don't
be afraid that your life will end. Be afraid that it will never begin."
(E-mail: juan_mercado@boholchronicle.com) | 
