Stories are valuable literary genres very convenient to express messages of inspiration and enlightenment. Aesop’s fables have been remembered and read for generations. Each one of them is full of wisdom and profoundness. When I was a boy, my father used to read them before going to bed. My favorite one was about the turtle and the hare.
Today I would like to share with you a marvelous story written by writer and blogger Subhan Zein in his blog with the same name. Stories like these should be widely published in newspapers and magazines for everybody to read and assimilate their moral contents. It should be part of the mandatory reading material in all our schools as well.
This is Subhan Zein’s story:
Long time ago, a famous scholar was invited for a supper by a King of a neighboring maritime country. Feeling ecstatic, the scholar accepted the invitation. He asked a tailor to sew him the best clothes. Then he asked a boatman to sail his boat and get him across the sea to meet the King. On the day he was on board, the weather was perfect and the waves were calm.
In the middle of the journey, the scholar, who had become conceited by his achievements, looked at the boatman surreptitiously. He asked, “Can you read and write?”
“No,” replied the boatman.
“Oh, what a pity! You have lost a quarter of your life,” said the scholar with derision.
A sudden torrent appeared, but it didn’t alter the course of the conversation. The boatman kept rowing.
The scholar ventured another question, “Do you know how to trade? Do you know anything about finance?”
“No,” the boatman replied somewhat imperturbably.
“What a pity! You’ve lost another quarter of your life!” now the scholar was pompous.
The boatman did not reply; he kept rowing.
A long deep silence ensued. The scholar thought that being in the same boat with a brainless illiterate boatman was a curse. But he didn’t know what else to do. So he ventured another question, “Do you know anything about horoscope?”
“No,” replied the boatman the third time, without even turning his head to the scholar.
As the boatman said this, the weather became violent. The initially peaceful voyage had now turned into calamity as the tidal waves were rolling viciously. The boat was churning. Both the scholar and the boatman realized that it was going to sink in the middle of the ocean.
At this life-threatening moment, the boatman turned his head to the scholar and asked, “Sir, do you know how to swim? More importantly, can you swim?”
The scholar was shocked. Dumbfounded, he replied, “No.”
“What a pity! Now you will lose all of your life!”
Thank you Mr. Zein for writing stories like these. Surely they will conduce in making a better world to live in. Good Day.
What a perfectly appropriate tale for these days. So many people don’t know how to do a thing – plant a garden, mend a sock, predict the weather from the skies. They may have walls covered with honors and the fanciest car in the world, but….
Great story!
Hello Linda:
What bothered me of the story of the arrogance of the scholar against the humility of the boatman. I know many people who think they can walk on water until a storm comes and they sink to the bottom of the pond. Humbleness is a good word to have under the pillow.
I also enjoyed the story.
Kind Regards,
Omar.-