THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT


There were once six blind men who stood by the road-side every day,

and begged from the people who passed. They had often heard of

el-e-phants, but they had never seen one; for, being blind, how could

they?



It so happened one morning that an el-e-phant was driven down the road

where they stood. When they were told that the great beast was before

them, they asked the driver to let him stop so that they mig
t see

him.



Of course they could not see him with their eyes; but they thought

that by touching him they could learn just what kind of animal he was.



The first one happened to put his hand on the elephant's side. "Well,

well!" he said, "now I know all about this beast. He is ex-act-ly like

a wall."



The second felt only of the elephant's tusk. "My brother," he said,

"you are mistaken. He is not at all like a wall. He is round and

smooth and sharp. He is more like a spear than anything else."



The third happened to take hold of the elephant's trunk. "Both of you

are wrong," he said. "Anybody who knows anything can see that this

elephant is like a snake."



The fourth reached out his arms, and grasped one of the elephant's

legs. "Oh, how blind you are!" he said. "It is very plain to me that

he is round and tall like a tree."



The fifth was a very tall man, and he chanced to take hold of the

elephant's ear. "The blind-est man ought to know that this beast is

not like any of the things that you name," he said. "He is ex-act-ly

like a huge fan."



The sixth was very blind indeed, and it was some time before he could

find the elephant at all. At last he seized the animal's tail. "O

foolish fellows!" he cried. "You surely have lost your senses. This

elephant is not like a wall, or a spear, or a snake, or a tree;

neither is he like a fan. But any man with a par-ti-cle of sense can

see that he is exactly like a rope."



Then the elephant moved on, and the six blind men sat by the roadside

all day, and quar-reled about him. Each believed that he knew just how

the animal looked; and each called the others hard names because they

did not agree with him. People who have eyes sometimes act as

foolishly.



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