Stories From The Old Attic, Robert Harris [top ten books of all time .txt] 📗

a young man unsure about which road to take as he stepped out into the world. “I have considered my career choices,” he said, “and I don’t know whether to become a poet or a merchant.”

The second man had just married a wife and was about to buy a house for them to live in. “I have investigated many houses carefully,” he said, “and have found two that would be suitable. The first house is nearly new and well designed but damp inside, while the second is light and airy but older and not so well designed. I don’t know which to choose.”

“Your problems are one,” said The Wise One, as he picked up a honey comb and squeezed it until the honey was drained out into a bowl. “You both must choose between the wax and the honey.”

“My gosh,” said one of The Wise One’s disciples, leaping to his feet, “I’m about to marry the wrong girl.” And with that, he ran off into the distance.

The two men looked at each other, searching each other’s face for a glimmer of understanding, which neither found.

 

*

 

One spring a richly dressed young man came to The Wise One and spoke these words:

“I have come from a far kingdom where I have just ascended the throne. My father ruled long and was old when he died, and now I am remodeling his castle. The many books of his great library are in the way of my new banquet hall, and I desire to rid myself of so much old paper. But I do not wish to throw out every book. I want to keep some for the sake of his precious memory. Thus, I have come to you for a principle of selection. Which books should I keep and which should I burn?”

“Go to the ancient source of rock in your kingdom, from which your cities have been built,” answered The Wise One, “and build a pile of stones until you can stand on it and see over the edge of the quarry. Then remove the contemptible stones.”

With a look of deep thoughtfulness on his brow, the young ruler left the presence of The Wise One and returned to his kingdom. It is not recorded whether this advice was put into effect or whether it helped the young ruler with his decision.

 

*

 

There are many other stories about The Wise One, just as there are many other people with their own stories. But these shall suffice to show how one old man exhausted the meager remnant of his days on earth. Whether his life was spent well or ill perhaps even he himself did not know.

 

On the Heroic Suffering of Mankind

A man stood philosophically on the prow of his ship, deeply inhaling the fresh sea air, feeling the warmth of the bright sunshine on his face, and ignoring or perhaps not hearing the burst of the whip as it lacerated the backs of the struggling slaves in the galley. But in the midst of enjoying his view, he felt a particle of dust fly into his eye. By blinking and rubbing it a little, he removed the speck, but his eye was reddened.

“Well,” he said stoically, “life has many pains and hardships and we must bear them as best we can.” Then relaxing upon a couch and ordering two slaves to dab his brow with a moistened cloth, he called upon his friends to sympathize with his suffering, whereupon he found some satisfaction in complaining of his hurt.

 

The Quest

All literature is but a variation on the quest motif. —Someone or Other

Too busy to look, too busy to be wise. —Someone Else or Someone Other

There once was a man who wandered from town to town constantly examining the ground. He carried a lantern in the daytime and a compass at night. When asked what he was doing, he would answer, “I’m looking for a place to stand, so that when the wind blows I may stand and not fall.”

Most people thought he was insane until a man who had lived long and experienced much was overheard to say of him, “Only a few people are as wise as this man, for he is engaged in the only search that really matters.”

 

Life

One day a man called his friend and invited him to lunch at his office. “Just come on over and we’ll have a great time,” the man said.

“Where is your office?” the friend asked.

“I’m not sure of the address,” answered the man, “but it’s somewhere downtown, I think.”

“Well,” asked the friend, “what does the building look like?”

“It’s tall, like an office building.”

“What floor are you on?”

“I think it’s one of the middle ones.”

“How many doors down from the elevator?”

“Oh, it’s several. But I’ve never really counted them.”

“Don’t wait for me,” said the friend, as he hung up.

* This is not a story about a man who could not give directions to his office. This is a story about the architecture of life. For many people inhabit their own lives in just this way, not knowing where they are or how to tell others how to reach them.

 

Discernment

“But compared to the pearls, this piece of string is worthless,” said the man, as he pulled it from the necklace and lost his whole treasure.

 

It Depends on How You Look at It: Eight Vignettes on Perspective

A man’s house burned to the ground. Upon hearing of it, the man said angrily, “This is the fault of oxygen!” For, as he explained, if there hadn’t been any oxygen in the atmosphere, his house never would have burned.

 

*

 

When the boss called Smervits and Jenkins into the office, Jenkins was very nervous because his plan to salvage the Freeble contract had not worked. Smervits wasn’t worried because he had shrewdly stood by while Jenkins floundered with the contract.

“Jenkins, you failed,” the boss said forcefully after the two men had entered. “That’s good,” he added, “because it shows that you tried something. Smervits, you didn’t fail, but you didn’t try anything, either. You’re fired.”

 

*

 

One day the power went off in the mine, leaving the miners in absolute darkness. One miner found a match and lit it. “What a dinky little flame,” said one of his companions, with contempt.

“What a great light in the darkness,” said another, with awe.

 

*

 

“Just think,” said the man in the orange hard hat, “to us that’s just a useless pile of rock. But to someone with greater vision it has value. It can be changed by his direction into something useful.”

“How’s that?” someone asked.

“First it has to be crushed, and then heated in a furnace, to give up its old properties and take on new ones. Then it can be mixed with water and molded into something beautiful.”

“So that’s how you make cement, huh?”

“No,” someone said, “that’s how you make a Christian.”

 

*

 

An officer came upon a young soldier so weighted down with weapons and ammunition that he couldn’t move. “You know why you aren’t attacking the enemy, don’t you?” asked the officer.

“Yes,” replied the soldier. “I’m waiting for more ammunition.”

 

*

 

Once in a pleasant garden there stood a tree, from which, legend said, God himself would one day reign. But instead, a group of wicked men broke in and chopped the tree down. They hacked the tree into a beam and nailed a holy man to it, leaving him to die upon a hill. So the tree of hope now had become a beam covered with blood and death. “See here,” the wicked men said, laughing with scorn, “in what manner God’s promises are fulfilled.”

 

*

 

The chairman of the department asked the young professor how his book was coming along. Said the professor, “Oh, the book is already written; I just haven’t put it down on paper yet.” The chairman patted the man on the back and told him to keep up the good work.

A construction worker, watching this scene transpire, decided that what was good enough for academe was good enough for him, so he sat back and opened a beer. Presently his foreman came along and wanted to know what was going on. Said the worker, “Oh, the hole is already dug; I just haven’t taken out the dirt yet.” The foreman, not having been enlightened by Higher Education, fired the worker, right in the middle of his beer.

 

*

 

A man on foot approached an abandoned auto wrecking yard that still had many old pieces of assorted cars lying around. “What an enormous pile of worthless junk,” he said to himself as he walked by. The next day another man on foot approached the same yard. “What a wonderful pile of worthy raw materials,” he thought as he surveyed the area. A few days later the second man drove away in his own car.

 

The Strange Adventure

Once upon a time, so long ago that it seems like yesterday, circumstances so occurred that two youths found themselves lost together in the desert and forced to spend the night without the services of modern technology.

“What a terrible thing,” said the first one. “We’re stuck out here all alone among who knows what frightening stuff.”

“This is great,” said the other. “What an adventure. I can’t wait to see what happens.”

As the light began to fade, the youths happened upon a snake, sitting on a rock to get the last warmth it could find before the cold night set in.

“Oh, no!” said the first youth. “Out here it’s just one problem after another. Now we’ll have to worry about that snake crawling all over us as we sleep.”

“What a great opportunity,” said the second youth. “Now we can have some dinner.” Soon the snake was roasting on an impromptu fire, and in a little while, the two youths began to eat.

“This is horrible,” said the first youth, spitting out the meat and nearly vomiting. “I can’t imagine a worse thing.”

“Actually, it tastes rather mild,” said the second youth, eating with relish.

When the next day came and the youths were rescued, they were asked about their adventure.

“It was the most awful, horrible experience I’ve ever had,” said the first youth, trembling from the memory. “I’ll be mentally scarred by it for the rest of my life.”

“It was great!” said the second youth. “I think it’s the best thing that ever happened to me. What a fun time. I’m so glad I was there.”

* The events we experience are less important than the meaning we give to them, for life is about meaning, not experience.

 

In Defeat There Is Victory

Once upon a time, among the infinite events which pass daily in this world, a man took his son and daughter to the racetrack to watch the horses run. After several races, the man announced that he would place a bet. “We want to play, too!” his children cried excitedly.

“Very well,” answered the man. “Here are the names of the horses in the coming race: 1. Dotty’s Trotter; 2. Sure Win; 3. Also Ran; 4. High Risk; 5. Looking Good; 6. Outside Chance; 7. King Alphonso.”

“I want to bet on Sure Win,” the boy said eagerly. “There’s nothing like the certainty of success.”

“And I will bet on Looking Good; he sounds so handsome and strong,” the daughter said, with a trace of a sigh.

“Good, children,” their