The Elephant Through the Knothole

There is an ancient parable which tells of three lame beggars, whose lot in life was to sit in the shade of a wooden fence surrounding the local magistrate’s palace, waiting on passers-by to throw them a few coins. Each beggar had his favourite spot to sit, and in fact they rarely strayed from their spots, for, being lame, it was difficult for them to get around, and, being beggars, they had no place better to go. Each beggar also had, at his favourite spot, a small knothole in the fence, through which he would gaze longingly at the luscious gardens within the magistrate’s compound. Now it happened that one day the beggars were sitting in their usual spots by the fence, when they overheard some courtiers exclaiming that the magistrate had recently purchased an elephant, and that he would be bringing it into the garden momentarily. None of the beggars had ever seen an elephant before and were quite interested to find out what one was like. They waited, peering through their knotholes, for the fantastic creature to arrive. There was quite a large crowd of courtiers gathering in the garden, however and soon the crowd entirely blocked their views. After a short while, a commotion could be heard rippling through the crowd, beginning from far down the other side of the crowd and slowly moving ever closer to the spot where the beggars sat waiting. After a few minutes, the focus of the excitement seemed to be just opposite their position, when suddenly, the crowd parted to reveal the elephant sidling up right alongside the fence. It happened so quickly that none of the beggars knew what had happened until the elephant was right up against the fence, and they now were afforded a close-up view of only a small portion of the elephant’s massive body. They peered through their knotholes in amazement at this gigantic wall of a beast. The first beggar could see only the elephant’s ear, the second, only a single great leg, and the third, just flashing glimpses of the animal’s trunk, flexing and flicking past the knothole. Soon, however, the elephant stepped away from the fence, and just as quickly as it had parted, the crowd again blocked the beggars’ view. The beggars sat in silence, meditating on what they had just witnessed. After a while, a villager walked by, and the first beggar called out “Friend, we have just seen an elephant!” “Oh!” replied the villager, “What was it like?” The three beggars all responded simultaneously, describing what they had seen. “It is thin and floppy like a flag in a light breeze”, said the first beggar. “It is thick and strong and round like a palm tree”, said the second beggar. “It is long and thin and quick like a cobra”, said the third beggar. The villager, concluding that the beggars were mad, shook his head and walked briskly away. Soon a young boy came along, and again, the first beggar called out, “Friend, we have just seen an elephant!” “Wow!” gasped the young boy, “What was it like?” Again, the three beggars all responded simultaneously, describing what they had seen. “It is thin and floppy like a flag in a light breeze”, said the first beggar. “It is thick and strong and round like a palm tree”, said the second beggar. “It is long and thin and quick like a cobra”, said the third beggar. Now, the young boy was wise beyond his years, and he listened to each description with fascination. He thought for a moment, then concluded, “what a wonderful creature is this elephant!”

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