Saltar al contenido principal

Sri Lanka: Ground View Aug 2008

Países
Sri Lanka
Fuentes
CHA
Fecha de publicación
Origen
Ver original

WHAT THE THREE TRAVELLERS LEARNT

It happened long ago, that there were three travellers. They came from diff erent parts and so they were travelling diff erent roads. They walked along their roads until they came to the place where the roads joined. That is where they met each other. It was late. The sun sat on the edge of the sky, at that place where it meets the edge of the land. They decided this was the place where they should sleep out the night. When the night was again the day they would walk again. These men were hungry. They had not eaten for a long while. They hunted. They killed a good impala. It was fi ne and fat. They built a fire.

The Traveller whose name was DOGMATiC said he would cook the deer.

How will he cook it?
I will take out the entrails.
I will pull off the skin. I will run a stick through it like a spear.
I will roast it over the coals.No that is not the way said traveller whose name was PREJUDICE..

How will he cook it?
I will take out the entrails and I will pull off the skin. I will dig a hole and fi ll it with fi re. I will wrap the buck in leaves of the banana tree. I will put it on the fi re and fi ll the hole. Later I will dig it up and eat it.
No that is not the way said the third Traveller - whose name NOBLE ORIGIN compensated for his diminutive fi gure..

How will he cook it?
I will take out the entrails and cut off the head but I will not pull off the skin. I will put the animal in the fi re and cover it with coals. When it is ready I will eat it.
Which traveller was right? Which was the way to cook the meat?

They could not decide. So they cut the animal into three parts. The fi rst traveller DOGMATiC speared his meat and roasted it over the fi re. The second traveller PREJUDICE wrapped his meat in banana leaves an cooked it in a hole. The third third traveller NOBLE ORGIN put his meat in the fi re and covered it with coals. He cooked it.

Soon enough the meat was cooked. Then these men were eating their meat. They were not afraid. They ate a piece of each others meat. It was not as good as the meat they had cooked themselves. But it was good enough and they enjoyed it. They ate all of the meat. What have we learned from this story? Listen and I will tell you.

The ways of other may seem strange .Dogmatic Prejudice, and Noble Origin all held pre conceived views on how to cook the meat. Each of them believed his method was best and saw reality and purity in what he perceived to be the best method of cooking the meat of the Animal they hunted together.

They ate a piece of each others meat. It was not as good as the meat they had cooked themselves, they thought yet they ate all of the meat.

Learn the ways of other people. It is the way you will understand them.

(Adopted from a folk tale from the 'The Quivering Spear'- south African Legends and Fables by Thomas A.Nevin1996 published by QS partners, Johannesburg, S.A.)