Page:The Complete Works of Lyof N. Tolstoi - 08 (Crowell, 1899).djvu/156

144 But the servant brought no water back; he returned with an empty cup, and said:—

"The water is not fit to drink; there is a serpent in the spring, and it has poisoned all the water. It is a good thing that the Falcon spilt it. If you had drunk of the water, you would have perished.

The Tsar said:—

"Foully have I recompensed the Falcon; he saved my life, and I killed him for it."

Indian Tsar commanded to gather together all the blind men, and when they were collected, he commanded to show them his Elephants. The blind men went to the stables, and began to feel of the Elephants.

One felt of the leg; another, of the tail; a third, of the rump; a fourth, of the belly; a fifth, of the back; a sixth, of the ears; a seventh, of the tusks; an eighth, of the proboscis.

Then the Tsar called the blind men to him, and asked them:—

"What are my Elephants like?"

And one blind man said:—

"Thy Elephants are like pillars."

This blind man had felt of the legs.

The second blind man said:—

"They are like brooms."

This one had felt of the tail.

The third said:—

"They are like wood."

This one had felt of the rump.

The one who had felt of the belly said:—

"Elephants are like lumps of earth."

The one who had felt of the side said:—

"They are a wall."

The one who had felt of the back said:—