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T
HERE were once six blind men who stood by the
It so happened one morning that an
Of course they could not see him with their eyes; but they thought that by touching him they could learn just what kind of animal he was.
The first one happened to put his hand on the elephant's
side. "Well, well!" he said, "now I know all about this
beast. He is
The second felt only of the elephant's tusk. "My brother," he said, "you are mistaken. He is not at all like a wall. He is round and smooth and sharp. He is more like a spear than anything else."
The third happened to take hold of the elephant's trunk. "Both of you are wrong," he said. "Anybody who knows anything can see that this elephant is like a snake."
The fourth reached out his arms, and grasped one of the elephant's legs. "Oh, how blind you are!" he said. "It is very plain to me that he is round and tall like a tree."
The fifth was a very tall man, and he chanced to take hold
of the elephant's ear. "The
The sixth was very blind indeed, and it was some time before
he could find the elephant at all. At last he seized the
animal's tail. "O foolish fellows!" he cried. "You surely
have lost your senses. This elephant is not like a wall, or
a spear, or a snake, or a tree; neither is he like a fan.
But any man with a
Then the elephant moved on, and the six blind men sat by
the roadside all day, and