THE BLIND MEN AND THE ELEPHANT

No two persons see the same thing in the same way. Each person sees part of the truth, but very few can see the whole truth. After you finish reading about these six blind men you may not be so sure that you are always in the right.

There were six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.

The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, "Ho? what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And, happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he;
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree."

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said, "Even the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beat to grope
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was party in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

THE MAN IN THE MOON

If you look at the full moon you can see an man in it carrying a basket. This Christmas Eve story tells how he came to be there.

Once upon a time a very happy farmer lived with his wife and children in a thatched house there was always enough rice to eat, and often very good fish to go with the rice. When fiestas came, the farmer’s wife made sweet coconut cakes for the children and gave them boiled eggs for supper. So the family lived happily enough in the little house by the woods.

On the night before Christmas, the farmer said to his wife, “What shall we have for our dinner tomorrow?”

“Why, rice and fish.” She answered, “And some sweet cakes for the children and gave them boiled eggs for supper. So the family lived happily enough in the little house by the woods.

On the night before Christmas, the farmer said to his wife, :What shall we have for our dinner tomorrow?”

“Why, rice and fish.” She answered. “and some sweet cakes for the children, because it is Christmas and eggs. Maybe we can have a little chicken to celebrate the fiesta.” “And a little lechon,” said the farmer. “How would you like lechon?”

“Lechon!” gasped the wife. “We are much too poor for that. Where could we get lechon?” Never mind,” answered the farmer. Tomorrow is Christmas, and I have set my on lechon. Leave it me,” and he nodded wisely.

His wife thought that someone have given him a present, because she knew that he had not the money to buy a pig even a very small animal. So she was much excited as she watched him take basket from under the house and go away towards the barrio. Then she dressed the children in their best clothes and looks them off to church to hear the Christmas Eve Mass.

Now, as the farmer went down the road, he laughed to himself. He knew that tonight all the village would go the church, and the houses and gardens would be deserted. “I am safe,” he thought, “and I shall have one of President’s pigs.” So on he went, straight to the President's house, where he knew there was a fine big sow with a family of ten fat little piglets, the finest that he had ever seen. He smacked his lips as he thought of the lechon he would eat next day.

He was over the fence in half a second, and there before him, in the darkness, was the fat white sow with her ten little ones. The farmer looked them over, chose the fattest little pig, and put it hastily into his basket.

Suddenly he heard a voice. Behind him, looking over the fence, was a lovely child riding on a white mule. "What are you doing?" asked the child. "J-j-j-just b-b-borrowing a p-p-p-piglet," answered the farmer, stuttering in his fright. The child's face seemed to get brighter and brighter with an unearthly light. "You steal," said the child, "and on Christmas Eve, a holy night, when you should be in church hearing Mass! Instead, you stay out in the moonlight, stealing pigs. So in the moonlight you shall stay forevermore."

The child rode on to the church, and the farmer as he watched the bright from disappear, felt himself rising, rising, up, up, higher and higher. At last he rose rigth into the moon, where you can see him to this day, still carrying in his basket the piglet which he stole that Christmas Eve.

The Muddy Boy

When a boy comes home after helping his father in the rice fields he is covered with mud. Perhaps he has rubbed his face with muddy hand and has left a streak of black across his check. His hair is matted with perspiration. Then he takes a bath. Quite a different looking boy appears from beneath the dirt. His hair is combed and his face shines. He is clean again.. A stranger would not recognize him as the same boy. But when a boy lies it is often it is not so easy to wash away the deception. The lie is often taken for the truth, and after it is discovered, the stranger wonders and asks: "Which is the lie, and which is the truth? How can i trust this boy? How can I know what his real mind is like beneath this cover of lies?" Lying, cleaning, and deception are like dirt on the mind. No one respects or trusts a liar or a cheat. No one who lies can feel any respects for himself, for dirty face arouse the scorn of others but it also hides the real face underneath. A lie is the real face underneath. A lie is like a dirty face because it hides the truth. When we discover the lie, our soon is even greater than when we see a layer of dirt on someone's face.