It was 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 ElephantIs
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 with in his hands,
Thus boldly up he 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: "E'en 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 beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope.
"I see," quoth he, "the ElephantIs
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 partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
Moral:
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen! |
A number of disciples went to the Buddha and said, "Sir, there are
living here in Savatthi many wandering hermits and scholars who indulge
inconstant dispute, some saying that the world is infinite and eternal
and others that it is finite and not eternal, some saying that the soul
dieswith the body and others that it lives on forever, and so forth.
What, Sir, would you say concerning them?"
The Buddha answered, "Once upon a time there was a certain raja
who called to his servant and said, 'Come, good fellow, go and gather
together in oneplace all the men of Savatthi who were born blind... and
show them an elephant.
' 'Very good, sire,' replied the servant, and he did as he was told. He
said to the blind men assembled there, 'Here is an elephant,' and to one
man he presented the head of the elephant, to another its ears, to another
a tusk, to another the trunk, the foot, back, tail, and tuft of the tail,
saying to each one that that was the elephant."When the blind men
had felt the elephant, the raja went to each of them and said to each,
'Well, blind man, have you seen the elephant? Tell me,what sort of thing
is an elephant?'"There upon the men who were presented with the head
answered, 'Sire, an elephant is like a pot.' And the men who had observed
the ear replied, 'Anelephant is like a winnowing basket.' Those who had
been presented with a tusk said it was a ploughshare. Those who knew only
the trunk said it was a plough; others said the body was a grainery; the
foot, a pillar; the back, a mortar; the tail, a pestle, the tuft of the
tail, a brush."Then they began to quarrel, shouting, 'Yes it is!'
'No, it is not!' 'An elephant is not that!' 'Yes, it's like that!' and
so on, till they came to blows over the matter.Brethren, the raja was
delighted with the scene."Just so are these preachers and scholars
holding various views blind and unseeing.... In their ignorance they are
by nature quarrelsome, wrangling, and disputatious, each maintaining reality
is thus and thus."Then the Exalted One rendered this meaning by uttering
this verse of uplift,O how they cling and wrangle, some who claimFor preacher
and monk the honored name!For, quarreling, each to his view they cling.Such
folk see only one side of a thing. |
