%Grushnak says 'This piece was written by John Godfrey Saxe in 1872, based on
a parable first put into written form in India in the Buddhist text of the
Udana sometime prior to 500 BCE, possibly as early as 2000 BCE, and likely
carried in oral tradition for centuries if not millenia before.'
%Grushnak says 'I present to you: The Blind Men and the Elephant.'
%Grushnak coughs quitely and shuffles his feet before beginning.
%Grushnak says 'It was six men of Indostan'
%Grushnak says 'To learning much inclined,'
%Grushnak says 'Who went to see the Elephant'
%Grushnak says '(Though all of them were blind),'
%Grushnak says 'That each by observation'
%Grushnak says 'Might satisfy his mind.'
%Grushnak pauses a moment before continuing.
%Grushnak says 'The First approached the Elephant,'
%Grushnak says 'And happening to fall'
%Grushnak says 'Against his broad and sturdy side,'
%Grushnak says 'At once began to bawl:'
%Grushnak says '"God bless me!?but the Elephant'
%Grushnak says 'Is very like a wall!"'
%Grushnak pauses a moment before continuing.
%Grushnak says 'The Second, feeling of the tusk,'
%Grushnak says 'Cried: "Ho!?what have we here'
%Grushnak says 'So very round and smooth and sharp?'
%Grushnak says 'To me 't is mighty clear'
%Grushnak says 'This wonder of an Elephant'
%Grushnak says 'Is very like a spear!"'
%Grushnak pauses a moment before continuing.
%Grushnak says 'The Third approached the animal,'
%Grushnak says 'And happening to take'
%Grushnak says 'The squirming trunk within his hands,'
%Grushnak says 'Thus boldly up and spake:'
%Grushnak says '"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant'
%Grushnak says 'Is very like a snake!"'
%Grushnak pauses a moment before continuing.
%Grushnak says 'The Fourth reached out his eager hand,'
%Grushnak says 'And felt about the knee.'
%Grushnak says '"What most this wondrous beast is like'
%Grushnak says 'Is mighty plain," quoth he'
%Grushnak says '"'T is clear enough the Elephant'
%Grushnak says 'Is very like a tree!"'
%Grushnak pauses a moment before continuing.
%Grushnak says 'The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,'
%Grushnak says 'Said: "E'en the blindest man'
%Grushnak says 'Can tell what this resembles most'
%Grushnak says 'Deny the fact who can,'
%Grushnak says 'This marvel of an Elephant'
%Grushnak says 'Is very like a fan!"'
%Grushnak pauses a moment before continuing.
%Grushnak says 'The Sixth no sooner had begun'
%Grushnak says 'About the beast to grope,'
%Grushnak says 'Than, seizing on the swinging tail'
%Grushnak says 'That fell within his scope,'
%Grushnak says '"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant'
%Grushnak says 'Is very like a rope!"'
%Grushnak pauses a moment before continuing.
%Grushnak says 'And so these men of Indostan'
%Grushnak says 'Disputed loud and long,'
%Grushnak says 'Each in his own opinion'
%Grushnak says 'Exceeding stiff and strong,'
%Grushnak says 'Though each was partly in the right,'
%Grushnak says 'And all were in the wrong!'
%Grushnak pauses a moment before continuing.
%Grushnak says 'So, oft in theologic wars'
%Grushnak says 'The disputants, I ween,'
%Grushnak says 'Rail on in utter ignorance'
%Grushnak says 'Of what each other mean,'
%Grushnak says 'And prate about an Elephant'
%Grushnak says 'Not one of them has seen!'
%Grushnak waits another moment before continuing, apparently complete with the
poem.
%Grushnak says 'The parable illustrates how we form our ideas and opinions
based on the limited information available to us, often drawing flawed
comparisons and likenesses without even knowing or acknowledging that our
conclusions are based on limited information. We like to think we have a good
picture of the world, that we know what's going on, and the age of this story
suggests that's something very fundamental to the way we see the world.'
%Grushnak says 'Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, commonly referred to simply as
Rumi, wrote prolifically through the 13th century -- including a variation of
this parable where the observers are in a darkened room instead of having the
unique experience of being blind. Unfortunately, he wrote primarily in Persian
and the translations of this particular poem are lackluster, so I won't
subject you to the whole thing. However, he ends very differently:'
%Grushnak clears his throat before reciting.
%Grushnak says 'If each of us held a candle there,'
%Grushnak says 'and if we went in together'
%Grushnak says 'we could see it.'
%Grushnak pauses a moment.
%Grushnak says 'Thank you all for coming. I hope you'll remember to appreciate
the light that other people bring to your corner of the world.'
%Grushnak bows to the audience.