A Feeble Fable
by Paul LeValley

    Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived an old man and his
wife.  They were very poor, and they lived in a little cottage on the edge of the
woods.
    But they had one thing which was very precious.  They had a book which
gave golden thoughts to everyone who read it.  Each afternoon, the old man and
the old woman would sit down under the apple tree and read the wonderful book.
And the book would give them golden thoughts until long after the sun had set and
the first stars twinkled in the sky.
    Then one day the old woman said, "My husband, we are very old.  We shall
never have time to receive all the golden thoughts which the wonderful book can
give.  Let us analyze the book, and we shall discover all of the golden thoughts at
once."
    So they wrote to the great university, and one day the wise professor came
to the cottage on the edge of the woods, and he knocked on the door.
    "Come in," called the old woman.
    "I have come to help you analyze the book which gives golden thoughts,"
explained the professor.  And the old man and the old woman and the wise
professor sat down under the apple tree and began analyzing the book which gave
golden thoughts to all who read it.
    But alas, when they had analyzed the book, they discovered that it was
made up just like any other book.  It had words, and sentences, and paragraphs.
But no golden thoughts could be found.
    And the foolish old man and the foolish old woman decided to pretend they
had never analyzed the book.  So in the afternoon, they would sit beneath the
apple tree and read the book.  But all they found were words, and sentences, and
paragraphs.  The golden thoughts never came again.
    So, for a long time, the book lay on the shelf, and no one read it.  Then, one
day, a little boy and a little girl came to visit at the cottage.  And they saw the book
and began to read it.
    "What a wonderful book!" they exclaimed. "It gives us such golden thoughts."
And the old man and the old woman were overjoyed, and they rushed to the book
and began reading it.  But all they found were words, and sentences, and
paragraphs.
    The old man and the old woman who had learned to analyze never did
receive any more golden thoughts.  But each afternoon, the little boy and the little
girl came to the cottage and read from the wonderful book.  And the book gave
them such golden thoughts that they would sit under the apple tree long after the
sun had set and the first stars twinkled in the sky.  And they lived happily ever after.

Moral: Geese live only once.  Books live once for each person.


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