| Sunny Side Up March 19, 2003 �2002, Kathleen Gibson Don�t be left holding the stick I heard this fable for the first time years ago. I don�t know the author, and I�m telling it in my own words because I�ve never seen it in print. But Jesus told a related parable. If you want to read that one, you�ll find it in Luke 12, verses 16-21. On with the fable�. In medieval days a wealthy landowner determined to rid himself of one of his servants, a dim-witted clod so stupid that the master knew there could be no one with less intelligence in the world. He called the man to him, handed him a stout walking stick, and gave him an assignment. "Travel the world over," he commanded. "Search out every continent, every country, every city, town and hamlet. When you find a man less �ahem� bright than yourself, give him this walking stick as a gift from me." The man set out immediately. The master clapped his hands in glee, certain he�d seen the last of him. For years the stupid servant pursued his quest. He plodded the highways and roads in cities, towns, and hamlets. He travelled to every country in every continent of the world. Years later the wanderer met a minstrel who had recently performed for his old master. The man disclosed that the landowner was making preparations to leave his home. The servant hurried back to report his findings. He was summoned to the bedchamber. Not noticing that his old employer was gravely ill, he reported that he had failed to find a man less bright than himself. The master nodded tiredly, for he had known that his servant was the king of all dim-wits. �Master,� enquired the servant, �Is it true that you are leaving your home?� The master nodded. �This seems very sudden,� the clod stated. "No, I have known about this trip for a very long time. All my life, in fact." Puzzled, the servant asked, "And when will you be returning?" Gazing out the window at his vast holdings, the master sighed. "I shall never return." His servant scratched his head. "Sir, where will you be dwelling?" "I do not know." "But, Master," protested the idiot, "how have you prepared for this journey?" Tired of questions, the sick man answered irritably that he had made no preparations whatsoever. A smile creased the corners of the servant's cracked lips. "Sir, am I to understand that you are going on a journey which you have known all your life you must make, to a place you do not know, from which you will never return, and for which you have made no preparations?" The master nodded tiredly and closed his eyes in dismissal. The servant leapt up. "Master," he cried joyfully, placing the stout walking stick on the sick man�s chest, "at last I have found a man who is more stupid than myself!" Don�t get caught with the walking stick. You can respond to this column at [email protected] |