vicegerent
December 16th, 2005, 10:25 PM
i got the following stories from idries shah's "tales of the dervishes" i hope you like them =^__^=
the three fishes
three fishes once lived in a pool. they were: a clever fish, a half-clever fish and a stupid fish. life continued for them very much as it is for fishes everywhere until one day came - a man.
he was carrying a net, and the clever fish saw him through the water. calling upon his experience, the stories he had heard, and his cleverness, he decided to take action.
'there are few places to hide in this pool,' he thought. 'i shall therefore play dead.'
he summoned his strength and jumped out of the pool, landing at the feet of the fisherman, who was rather surprised. but as the clever fish was holding his breath, the fisherman supposed that he was dead: and threw him back. this fish now glided into a small hole under the bank.
now the second fish, the half-clever one, did not quite understand what had happened. so he swam up to the clever fish and asked him all about it. 'simple,' said the clever fish, 'i played dead, so he threw me back.'
so the half-clever fish immediately leaped out of the water, at the fisherman's feet. 'strange,' thought the fisherman, 'they are leaping about all over the place.' and, because the half-clever fish had forgotten to hold his breath the fisherman realized that he was alive and put him into his satchel.
he turned back to peer into the water, and because he had been slightly confused but the fishes jumping on to dry land in front of him, he did not close the flap of his bag. the half-clever fish when he realized this, was just able to ease himself out and, flipping over and over, got back into the water. he sought out the first fish and panting beside him.
now the third fish, the stupid one, was not able to make anything at all of this, even when he heard the first and second fishes' versions, so they went over every point with him, stressing the importance of not breathing in order to play dead.
'thank you so much: NOW i understand,' said the stupid fish. with these words he hurled himself out of the water. landing just beside the fisherman.
now the fisherman, having lost two fishes already, put this one into his bag without bothering to look at whether it was breathing or not. he cast the net again and again into the pool, but the first two fishes were crouched into the depression under the bank. and the flap on the fisherman's bag this time was fully closed.
finally the fisherman gave up. he opened the bag, realized that the stupid fish was not breathing, and took him home for the cat.
the limitations of dogma
one day the great sultan mahmud was in the streets of ghazna, his capital, he saw a poor porter struggling under the weight of a heavy stone which he was carrying on his back. moved by pity for his condition and unable to restrain his compassion, mahmud called out to him in royal command:
‘drop that stone, porter.
immediately he was obeyed. the stone lay there, an obstacle to all who tried to pass, for years on end. ultimately a number of citizens interceded with the king, asking him to give a command for the stone to be taken away.
but mahmud, reflecting in administrative wisdom felt himself bound to reply:
‘that which has been done by command cannot be rescinded by an equal command, lest the people think that imperial orders are motivated by whims. let the stone remain where it is.’
the stone remained, therefore, for the rest of mahmud’s life-time. even when he was dead, from respect for royal commands, it was not removed.
the bird and the egg
once upon a time there was a bird which did not have the power of flight. like a chicken, he walked about on the ground, although he knew that some birds fly.
it so happened that, through a combination of circumstances, the egg of a flying bird was incubated by this flightless one.
in due time the chick came forth, still with the potentiality for flight which he had always had, even from the time when he was in the egg.
it spoke to its foster-parent, saying: ‘when will i fly?’ and the landbound bird said: ‘persists in your attempts to fly just like the others.’
for he did not know how to take the fledgeling for its lesson in flying: even how to topple it from the nest so that i might learn.
and it is curious, in a way, that the young bird did not see this. his recognition of the situation was confused by the fact that he felt gratitude to the bird which had hatched him.
‘without this service’, he said to himself: ‘anyone who can hatch me, surely can teach me how to fly. it must be just a matter of time, or of my own unaided efforts, or of some great wisdom: yes, that is it. suddenly one day i will be carried to the next stage by him who has brought me this far.’
when the waters were changed
once upon a time khidr, the teacher of moses, called upon mankind with a warning. at a certain date, he said, all the water in the world which had not been specially hoarded, would disappear. it would be renewed, with different water, which would drive men mad.
only one man listened to the meaning of this advice. he collected water and went to secure a place where he stored it, and waited for the water to change its character.
on the appointed date the steams stopped running, the wells went dry, and the man who had listened, seeing this happening, went to his retreat and drank his preserved water.
when he saw, from his security, the waterfalls again beginning to flow, this man descended among the other sons of men. he found that they were thinking and talking entirely different way from before; yet they had no memory of what had happened, nor of having been warned. when he tried to talk to them, he realized that they thought he was mad and showed hostility or compassion, not understanding.
at first he drank none of the new water, but went back to his concealment, to draw on his supplies every day. finally, however, he took the decision to drink the new water because he could not bear the loneliness of living, behaving and thinking in a different way from everyone else. he drank the new water, and became like the rest. then he forgot all about his own store of special water, and his fellows began to look upon him as a madman who had miraculously been restored to sanity.
the idiot and the browsing camel
an idiot looked at a browsing camel. he said to it: ‘your appearance is awry. why is it so?’
the camel replied: ‘in judging the impression made, you are attributing a fault to that which shaped the form. be aware of this! do not consider my crooked appearance a fault.
‘get away from me, by the shortest route. my appearances is thus for function, for a reason. the bow needs the bentness as well as the straightness of the bowstring.
‘fool, begone! an ass’ perception does with an ass’ nature.’
the three fishes
three fishes once lived in a pool. they were: a clever fish, a half-clever fish and a stupid fish. life continued for them very much as it is for fishes everywhere until one day came - a man.
he was carrying a net, and the clever fish saw him through the water. calling upon his experience, the stories he had heard, and his cleverness, he decided to take action.
'there are few places to hide in this pool,' he thought. 'i shall therefore play dead.'
he summoned his strength and jumped out of the pool, landing at the feet of the fisherman, who was rather surprised. but as the clever fish was holding his breath, the fisherman supposed that he was dead: and threw him back. this fish now glided into a small hole under the bank.
now the second fish, the half-clever one, did not quite understand what had happened. so he swam up to the clever fish and asked him all about it. 'simple,' said the clever fish, 'i played dead, so he threw me back.'
so the half-clever fish immediately leaped out of the water, at the fisherman's feet. 'strange,' thought the fisherman, 'they are leaping about all over the place.' and, because the half-clever fish had forgotten to hold his breath the fisherman realized that he was alive and put him into his satchel.
he turned back to peer into the water, and because he had been slightly confused but the fishes jumping on to dry land in front of him, he did not close the flap of his bag. the half-clever fish when he realized this, was just able to ease himself out and, flipping over and over, got back into the water. he sought out the first fish and panting beside him.
now the third fish, the stupid one, was not able to make anything at all of this, even when he heard the first and second fishes' versions, so they went over every point with him, stressing the importance of not breathing in order to play dead.
'thank you so much: NOW i understand,' said the stupid fish. with these words he hurled himself out of the water. landing just beside the fisherman.
now the fisherman, having lost two fishes already, put this one into his bag without bothering to look at whether it was breathing or not. he cast the net again and again into the pool, but the first two fishes were crouched into the depression under the bank. and the flap on the fisherman's bag this time was fully closed.
finally the fisherman gave up. he opened the bag, realized that the stupid fish was not breathing, and took him home for the cat.
the limitations of dogma
one day the great sultan mahmud was in the streets of ghazna, his capital, he saw a poor porter struggling under the weight of a heavy stone which he was carrying on his back. moved by pity for his condition and unable to restrain his compassion, mahmud called out to him in royal command:
‘drop that stone, porter.
immediately he was obeyed. the stone lay there, an obstacle to all who tried to pass, for years on end. ultimately a number of citizens interceded with the king, asking him to give a command for the stone to be taken away.
but mahmud, reflecting in administrative wisdom felt himself bound to reply:
‘that which has been done by command cannot be rescinded by an equal command, lest the people think that imperial orders are motivated by whims. let the stone remain where it is.’
the stone remained, therefore, for the rest of mahmud’s life-time. even when he was dead, from respect for royal commands, it was not removed.
the bird and the egg
once upon a time there was a bird which did not have the power of flight. like a chicken, he walked about on the ground, although he knew that some birds fly.
it so happened that, through a combination of circumstances, the egg of a flying bird was incubated by this flightless one.
in due time the chick came forth, still with the potentiality for flight which he had always had, even from the time when he was in the egg.
it spoke to its foster-parent, saying: ‘when will i fly?’ and the landbound bird said: ‘persists in your attempts to fly just like the others.’
for he did not know how to take the fledgeling for its lesson in flying: even how to topple it from the nest so that i might learn.
and it is curious, in a way, that the young bird did not see this. his recognition of the situation was confused by the fact that he felt gratitude to the bird which had hatched him.
‘without this service’, he said to himself: ‘anyone who can hatch me, surely can teach me how to fly. it must be just a matter of time, or of my own unaided efforts, or of some great wisdom: yes, that is it. suddenly one day i will be carried to the next stage by him who has brought me this far.’
when the waters were changed
once upon a time khidr, the teacher of moses, called upon mankind with a warning. at a certain date, he said, all the water in the world which had not been specially hoarded, would disappear. it would be renewed, with different water, which would drive men mad.
only one man listened to the meaning of this advice. he collected water and went to secure a place where he stored it, and waited for the water to change its character.
on the appointed date the steams stopped running, the wells went dry, and the man who had listened, seeing this happening, went to his retreat and drank his preserved water.
when he saw, from his security, the waterfalls again beginning to flow, this man descended among the other sons of men. he found that they were thinking and talking entirely different way from before; yet they had no memory of what had happened, nor of having been warned. when he tried to talk to them, he realized that they thought he was mad and showed hostility or compassion, not understanding.
at first he drank none of the new water, but went back to his concealment, to draw on his supplies every day. finally, however, he took the decision to drink the new water because he could not bear the loneliness of living, behaving and thinking in a different way from everyone else. he drank the new water, and became like the rest. then he forgot all about his own store of special water, and his fellows began to look upon him as a madman who had miraculously been restored to sanity.
the idiot and the browsing camel
an idiot looked at a browsing camel. he said to it: ‘your appearance is awry. why is it so?’
the camel replied: ‘in judging the impression made, you are attributing a fault to that which shaped the form. be aware of this! do not consider my crooked appearance a fault.
‘get away from me, by the shortest route. my appearances is thus for function, for a reason. the bow needs the bentness as well as the straightness of the bowstring.
‘fool, begone! an ass’ perception does with an ass’ nature.’