Tuesday, July 13, 2010

The trouble with violent solutions

And so the Teacher took him to the cart and said, "Your first task is to untie this knot."

And the boy examined the knot for a while, and when he could see no way to undo it, he took out his sword and cut it in two.

The Teacher said, "For decades men have struggled with this knot, yet none have thought to do what you have just done."

The boy smiled.

"Now, for your second task", said the Teacher, "tie the knot back."

6 comments:

km said...

"tie the knot back."

At which point the boy pulled out his shiny red Swingline stapler...

Anonymous said...

...The boy swung his sword again and asked, "Who wants the knot to be tied? Who wants to not abide?"

Rakhi said...

Wonderfully evocative. :)

How do we know said...

wow!!

How do we know said...

did the boy have quick glue? Did the threads bleed too much?

Anonymous said...

Which is why you should always cut the rope and not the knot.