[sdiy]RE: [sdiy] Poem about engineering discussions <humor>

[rdrake]

or the version i first heard on an old pete seegar record, with an unexpected twist at the end:

"The king received a message that a sea captain had landed on the coast with a strange animal called an elephant. So he called his wise men and said: "Oh wise men, go down to the seaport and report to me what manner of beast this elephant is." The wise men got into the king’s carriages, clip-clop, clip-clop, clip-clop, and they went to the ship. But they’d been reading books so damn long they were blind as bats. When they got there, one felt the legs of the elephant. He said, "hmm." Another one felt the side. He said, "hmmm." Another one felt the ear, "hmmmm." Another one felt the tusk, another one felt the trunk, another one pulled the tail - bad luck for him.

Well, they all got into the carriages and went back to the palace. They bowed low and one said, "Your Majesty, this elephant is very much like the trunk of a tree." Another one said, "Why, you’re very much mistaken. I felt it myself. It’s like the side of a building." The third started screaming, "Why you’re both crazy! I felt it - it’s like a large leaf of a plant." The next one said, "No, it’s like a smooth spear," another one said, "No, it’s like a huge snake!" Now they were all shouting, and the last one screamed at the top of his lungs, "No, it’s like a rope that hangs down from heaven, and when you pull on it, the heavens open up with waste." 

Adaptation by Pete Seeger of the parable of The Blind Men and the Elephant -an animated rendering of the concept of duality. 



>----- ------- Original Message ------- -----
>From: Grant Richter <grichter at asapnet.net>
>To: synth-diy <synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl>
>Sent: Mon, 03 Jan 2005 11:30:49
>
>It was six men of Indostan
>To learning much inclined,
>Who went to see the Elephant
>(Though all of them were blind),
>That each by observation
>Might satisfy his mind
>
>The First approached the Elephant,
>And happening to fall
>Against his broad and sturdy side,
>At once began to bawl:
>³God bless me! but the Elephant
>Is very like a wall!²
>
>The Second, feeling of the tusk,
>Cried, ³Ho! what have we here
>So very round and smooth and sharp?
>To me ¹tis mighty clear
>This wonder of an Elephant
>Is very like a spear!²
> 
>The Third approached the animal,
>And happening to take
>The squirming trunk within his hands,
>Thus boldly up and spake:
>³I see,² quoth he, ³the Elephant
>Is very like a snake!²
> 
>The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
>And felt about the knee.
>³What most this wondrous beast is like
>Is mighty plain,² quoth he;
>³ ŒTis clear enough the Elephant
>Is very like a tree!²
> 
>The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
>Said: ³E¹en the blindest man
>Can tell what this resembles most;
>Deny the fact who can
>This marvel of an Elephant
>Is very like a fan!²
> 
>The Sixth no sooner had begun
>About the beast to grope,
>Than, seizing on the swinging tail
>That fell within his scope,
>³I see,² quoth he, ³the Elephant
>Is very like a rope!²
> 
>And so these men of Indostan
>Disputed loud and long,
>Each in his own opinion
>Exceeding stiff and strong,
>Though each was partly in the right,
>And all were in the wrong!
>
>-John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)