The Blind Men and the Elephant
Indian Tale
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Retold by The Legendary Connection
TLC#00083
Once upon a time, six blind men sat by the side of the road every day, asking for help from the people passing by. They had often heard stories about elephants, but since they were blind, they had never seen one.
One morning, an elephant was being led down the road where the men sat. When they heard that the elephant was in front of them, they asked the driver if the elephant could stop so they could "see" it by touching it.
The first man reached out and touched the side of the elephant. "Oh!" he said. "Now I understand! The elephant is just like a big, flat wall!"
The second man touched the elephant’s tusk. "No, no," he said. "You are wrong. The elephant isn’t like a wall. It is smooth, round, and pointy—just like a spear."
The third man felt the elephant’s trunk. "You are both wrong," he said. "The elephant is like a long, bendy snake!"
The fourth man grabbed the elephant’s leg. He laughed and said, "It’s so clear to me! This elephant is tall and strong, just like a tree."
The fifth man, who was very tall, reached up and touched the elephant’s ear. "You’re all wrong," he said. "The elephant is not like any of those things. It’s soft and floppy, just like a big fan."
The sixth man had trouble finding the elephant at first, but finally, he grabbed the elephant’s tail. "Oh, how silly you all are!" he said. "This elephant is not like a wall, a spear, a snake, a tree, or a fan. It’s clearly like a rope!"
Then the elephant moved on, and the six blind men sat by the road, arguing all day long about what the elephant was like. Each man was sure he was right and thought the others were completely wrong.
Sometimes, even people who can see argue about things when they don’t understand the whole picture.
The end.
Source: Baldwin, James. “Fifty Famous Stories Retold.” Https://Www.gutenberg.org/Files/18442/18442-h/18442-H.htm, 23 May 2006, www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/18442/pg18442-images.html#DIOGENES_THE_WISE_MAN. Accessed 3 May 2024.