a fable, part 2
[note: this is the second half of a post entitled "a fable" ]
For quite some time, Jo sailed his boat alone on Lake Rika, trying to sort through the thoughts in his head and feeling increasingly frustrated and confused. Finally, he decided to seek advice from a wise man who was rumored to live on a small island on the lake. Jo anchored his boat off the edge of the island, swam ashore, and began hiking around searching for the legendary wise man. As usually happens, the wise man turned out to be in the last place he looked. The wise man was very old and thin, and wore nothing but a worn old deerskin which barely covered enough of him to be considered socially appropriate back in the village. Clearly, the wise man wasn’t concerned with such things. Although Jo didn’t have an invitation, the wise man greeted him warmly and seemed to have no problem with a strange villager showing up on his doorstep seeking advice.
Jo launched into a lengthy monologue about all he had been thinking about: that Sammy was not great and benevolent; that it wasn’t right to let a lake monster eat your children; that it wasn’t fair that some people were forced to feed the monster while others fed themselves out of the lake monster supplies; that it didn’t seem to make much of a difference whom exactly was on the Council of Elders at any given time. He asked the wise man to explain a way out of this mess. What was a simple fisherman to do?
The wise man, who had been smoking a pipe while Jo ranted, sat silently for some time. Finally, he responded with a question: Where do lake monsters come from?
Jo was baffled. What did he mean, where do lake monsters come from? They come from lakes, obviously!
“If lake monsters come from lakes, how did they survive before villagers began feeding them?”, he asked.
Jo thought about this for a moment. He really wasn’t sure. Were there even any lake monsters before there were villagers? Could Sammy have ever grown so large and powerful if not for generations of villagers tending to his diet? This sort of chicken-and-egg question was interesting, but somewhat beside the point. The fact is, there ARE lake monsters, and he wanted to know what to do about it.
“Alright, let me ask you another question. How do you destroy a lake monster?”, the wise man queried.
“That’s easy!”, Jo said triumphantly. “Stop feeding it!”
“Ah!” responded the wise man.
Jo waited a moment, expecting more of a response. But none came. “But, of course, it’s not enough just for *me* to stop feeding the lake monster. A number of other productive villagers need to do so as well.”
“Indeed”, mused the wise man.
Jo was getting a bit annoyed with this. “So…… how do I convince the other villagers to stop feeding Sammy?”
“Who convinced you to stop feeding him?” responded the wise man.
Jo opened his mouth to respond, then paused. “Well, no one, exactly. I just sort of… you know… figured it out myself. After reading several books by radical village philosophers, listening to podcasts while repairing my nets, and talking with people down at the pub.”
“Well, there you go.” smiled the wise man.
Jo was definitely annoyed now. “What do you mean, there you go?! Are you saying I can’t teach anyone anything, they can only teach themselves?”
“I didn’t say anything”, said the wise man.
“That’s not an answer!!” Jo exploded, completely frustrated now. “I can’t just let my friends and neighbors keep throwing a large portion of their crops into the lake, and watch their children get eaten. I should be able to convince them to stop!”
“There is no “should”, my young friend. To quote a wise man (Jo found this slightly amusing. He wondered if the Wise Man considered himself to be a wise man; if not, did the wise man the Wise Man was about to quote consider himself to be a wise man? Did anyone actually think of himself as wise, or was the attainment of wisdom to understand that wisdom is actually a path, rather than a destination? He cut off this line of thinking and drew his focus back to what the Wise Man was saying): “the essence of philosophy is to accept the universe as it is, rather than try to force it into some preconceived shape.”
Jo thought about this for several moments. Finally he said “So you mean, I can’t teach the other villagers about the true nature of the lake monster? I just have to wait and see if they figure it out for themselves?”
“I didn’t say it”, the Wise Man said again, a small smile twitching the corner of his lips.
“Well, what am I supposed to do in the meantime?” Jo asked. “I mean, other than fishing, gardening, hunting, and trying to avoid both having my fish taken for Sammy and getting thrown in the stockade?”
“When’s the last time you kissed a girl, kid?”
Jo turned beet red. “Well, I’ve been *busy*…” he stammered. “Fishing is a time-consuming occupation, you know! The fish don’t just leap into the nets by themselves. ”
“Uh huh” replied the old man.
“So let me see if I’ve got this straight. What you’re basically saying is that I should just focus on being the best fisherman I can be, don’t feed lake monsters, try not to get thrown in the stockade, and find a nice girl to spend time with, hopefully one who shares my anti-lake monster sentiments?”
“That sounds like an excellent plan!” smiled the Wise Man.
Jo had a feeling that this conversation had not gone quite according to plan. Or rather, that he seemed to now have a plan, but wasn’t quite sure where it had come from. Oh well, this was making his head hurt. The old man was clearly wise, and had given him a not unpleasant plan; actually, it was pretty much exactly what he would have done if there had never been a lake monster in the first place. He swam back to his boat, hauled up the anchor, and set sail for the village. He’d continue to hone his fishing skills, work on his garden, put away as much as he could in preparation for the dreaded “Peak Fish” scenario, and share his anti-lake monster books and podcasts with any acquaintance who seemed willing to give them a listen. Also, there was that cute girl he had seen at the pub, but never actually got up the nerve to speak to before. Carpe draco pen! (This was an old villager expression that translated to “Seize the lake monster by the tail.”)