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There lived in the great city of Gotham, over against the north
gate,
a man who possessed a very wise aspect, but very little else.
He was
tall and lean, and had a fine large head, bald and smooth upon
the
top, with a circle of white hair behind the ears. His beard was
pure
white, and reached to his waist; his eyes were small, dark, and
so
piercing that they seemed to read your every thought. His eyebrows
were very heavy, and as white as his beard. He dressed in a long
black
mantle with a girdle corded about the middle, and he walked slowly
and
majestically, and talked no more than he was obliged to.
When this man passed down the street with his stately tread the
people
all removed their hats and bowed to him with great reverence,
saying
within themselves,
"He is very wise, this great man; he is a second Socrates."
And soon this was the only name he was called by, and everyone
in
Gotham knew him as "Socrates."
To be sure this man was not really wise. Had they realized the
truth,
not one he met but knew more than Socrates; but his venerable
appearance certainly betokened great wisdom, and no one appeared
to
remember that things are seldom what they seem.
Socrates would strut about with bowed head and arms clasped behind
him, and think:
"My! how wise these people take me to be. Everyone admires
my
beautiful beard. When I look into their faces they drop their
eyes. I
am, in truth, a wonderful man, and if I say nothing they will
believe
I am full of wisdom. Ah, here comes the schoolmaster; I shall
frown
heavily and refuse to notice him, for then he also will be deceived
and think I am pondering upon matters of great import." Really,
the
one wise thing about this Socrates was his ability to keep quiet.
For,
saying no word, it was impossible he should betray his ignorance.
Singularly enough, over by the south gate of Gotham there dwelt
another wise man, of much the same appearance as Socrates. His
white
beard was a trifle longer and he had lost his left eye, which
was
covered by a black patch; but in all other ways his person betokened
as much wisdom as that of the other.
He did not walk about, being lazy and preferring his ease; but
he
lived in a little cottage with one room, where the people came
to
consult him in regard to all their troubles.
They had named him Sophocles, and when anything went wrong they
would
say,
"Let us go and consult Sophocles, for he is very wise and
will tell us
what to do."
Thus one man, who had sued his neighbor in the courts, became
worried
over the outcome of the matter and came to consult the wise man.
"Tell me, O Sophocles!" he said, as he dropped a piece
of money upon a
plate, "shall I win my lawsuit or not?"
Sophocles appeared to ponder for a moment, and then he looked
at his
questioner with his one eye and replied,
"If it is not decided against you, you will certainly win
your suit."
And the man was content, and went away feeling that his money
had been
well invested.
At another time the mother of a pair of baby twins came to him
in
great trouble.
"O most wise Sophocles!" she said, "I am in despair!
For my little
twin girls are just alike, and I have lost the ribbon that I placed
on
one that I might be able to tell them apart. Therefore I cannot
determine which is Amelia and which is Ophelia, and as the priest
has
christened them by their proper names it would be a sin to call
them
wrongly."
"Cannot the priest tell?" asked the wise man.
"No one can tell," answered the woman; "neither
the priest nor their
father nor myself, for they are just alike. And they are yet too
young
to remember their own names. Therefore your great wisdom is our
only
resource."
"Bring them to me," commanded Sophocles.
And when they were brought he looked at them attentively and
said,
"This is Ophelia and this Amelia. Now tie a red ribbon about
Ophelia's wrist and put a blue ribbon on Amelia, and so long as
they
wear them you will not be troubled to tell them apart."
Everyone marvelled greatly that Sophocles should know the children
better than their own mother, but he said to himself,
"Since no no [both nos in original] one can prove that I
am wrong I am
sure to be right;" and thus he maintained his reputation
for wisdom.
In a little side street near the center of Gotham lived an old
woman
named Deborah Smith. Her home was a wretched little hut, for she
was
poor, and supported herself and her husband by begging in the
streets.
Her husband was a lazy, short, fat old man, who lay upon a ragged
blanket in the hut all day and refused to work.
"One beggar in the family is enough," he used to grumble,
when his
wife upbraided him, "and I am really too tired to work. So
let me
alone, my Deborah, as I am about to take another nap."
Nothing she could say would arouse him to action, and she finally
allowed him to do as he pleased.
But one day she met Socrates walking in the street, and after
watching
him for a time made up her mind he was nothing more than a fool.
Other
people certainly thought him wise, but she was a shrewd old woman,
and
could see well enough that he merely looked wise. The next day
she
went to the south of the city to beg, and there she heard of
Sophocles. When the people repeated his wise sayings she thought:
"Here is another fool, for anyone could tell as much as
this man
does."
Still, she went to see Sophocles, and, dropping a penny upon
his
plate, she asked,
"Tell me, O wise man, how shall I drive my husband to work?"
"By starving him," answered Sophocles; "if you
refuse to feed him he
must find a way to feed himself."
"That is true," she thought, as she went away; "but
any fool could
have told me that. This wise man is a fraud; even my husband is
as
wise as he."
Then she stopped short and slapped her hand against her forehead.
"Why," she cried, "I will make a Wise Man of Perry,
my husband, and
then he can earn money without working!"
So she went to her husband and said,
"Get up, Perry Smith, and wash yourself; for I am going
to make a Wise
Man of you."
"I won't," he replied.
"You will," she declared, "for it is the easiest
way to earn money I
have ever discovered."
Then she took a stick and beat him so fiercely that at last he
got up,
and agreed to do as she said.
She washed his long beard until it was as white as snow, and
she
shaved his head to make him look bald and venerable. Then she
brought
him a flowing black robe with a girdle at the middle; and when
he was
dressed, he looked fully as wise as either Socrates or Sophocles.
"You must have a new name," she said, "for no
one will ever believe
that Perry Smith is a Wise Man. So I shall hereafter call you
Pericles, the Wisest Man of Gotham!"
She then led him into the streets, and to all they met she declared,
"This is Pericles, the wisest man in the world."
"What does he know?" they asked.
"Everything, and much else," she replied.
Then came a carter, and putting a piece of money in the hand
of
Pericles, he enquired,
"Pray tell me of your wisdom what is wrong with my mare?"
"How should I know?" asked Pericles.
"I thought you knew everything," returned the carter,
in surprise.
"I do," declared Pericles; "but you have not told
me what her symptoms
are."
"She refuses to eat anything," said the carter.
"Then she is not hungry," returned Pericles; "for
neither man nor
beast will refuse to eat when hungry."
And the people who heard him whispered together and said,
"Surely this is a wise man, for he has told the carter what
is wrong
with his mare."
After a few days the fame of Pericles' sayings came to the ears
of
both Socrates and Sophocles, and they resolved to see him, for
each
feared he would prove more wise than they were, knowing themselves
to
be arrant humbugs. So one morning the three wise men met together
outside the hut of Pericles, and they sat themselves down upon
stools,
facing each other, while a great crowd of people gathered around
to
hear the words of wisdom that dropped from their lips.
But for a time all three were silent, and regarded one another
anxiously, for each feared he might betray himself.
Finally Sophocles winked his one eye at the others and said,
in a
grave voice,
"The earth is flat; for, were it round, as some fools say,
all the
people would slide off the surface."
Then the people, who had listened eagerly, clapped their hands
together and murmured,
"Sophocles is wisest of all. What he says is truth."
This provoked Socrates greatly, for he felt his reputation was
in
danger; so he said with a frown,
"The world is shallow, like a dish; were it flat the water
would all
run over the edges, and we should have no oceans."
Then the people applauded more loudly than before, and cried,
"Socrates is right the is wisest of all."
Pericles, at this, shifted uneasily upon his stool, for he knew
he
must dispute the matter boldly or his fame would depart from him.
Therefore he said, with grave deliberation,
"You are wrong, my friends. The world is hollow, like the
shell of a
cocoanut, and we are all inside the shell. The sky above us is
the
roof, and if you go out upon the ocean you will come to a place,
no
matter in which direction you go, where the sky and the water
meet. I
know this is true, for I have been to sea."
The people cheered loudly at this, and said,
"Long live Pericles, the wisest of the wise men!"
"I shall hold I am right," protested Sophocles, "until
Pericles and
Socrates prove that I am wrong."
"That is fair enough," said the people.
"And I also shall hold myself to be right until they prove
me wrong,"
declared Socrates, firmly.
"I know I am right," said Pericles, "for you cannot
prove me wrong."
"We can take a boat and sail over the sea," remarked
Socrates, "and
when we come to the edge we will know the truth. Will you go?"
"Yes," answered Sophocles; and Pericles, because he
did not dare
refuse, said "Yes" also.
Then they went to the shore of the sea, and the people followed
them.
There was no boat to be found anywhere, for the fishers were all
away
upon the water; but there was a big wooden bowl lying upon the
shore,
which the fishermen used to carry their fish to market in.
"This will do," said Pericles, who, because he weighed
the most, was
the greatest fool of the three.
So the wise men all sat within the bowl, with their feet together,
and
the people pushed them out into the water.
The tide caught the bowl and floated it out to sea, and before
long
the wise men were beyond sight of land.
They were all greatly frightened, for the bowl was old and cracked,
and the water leaked slowly through until their feet were covered.
They clung to the edge with their hands and looked at one another
with
white faces. Said Pericles,
"I was a fool to come to sea in this bowl."
"Ah," remarked Socrates, "if you are a fool, as
you confess, then you
cannot be a wise man."
"No," answered Pericles, "but I 'll soon be a
dead man."
"I also was a fool," said Sophocles, who was weeping
from his one eye
and trembling all over, "for if I had stayed upon land I
would not
have been drowned."
"Since you both acknowledge it," sighed Socrates, "I
will confess that
I also am a fool, and have always been one; but I looked so wise
the
people insisted I must know everything!"
"Yes, yes," Sophocles groaned, "the people have
murdered us!"
"My only regret," said Pericles, "is that my wife
is not with me. If
only she were here"--
He did not finish what he was saying, for just then the bowl
broke in
two. And the people are still waiting for the three wise men to
come
back to them.
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