Page:The Complete Works of Lyof N. Tolstoi - 08 (Crowell, 1899).djvu/157

Rh "They are like a hill."

The one who had felt of the ears said:—

"They are like a handkerchief."

The one who had felt of the head said:—

"They are like a mortar."

The one who had felt of the tusks said:—

"They are like horns."

The one who had felt of the proboscis said:—

"They are like a stout rope."

And all the blind men began to dispute and quarrel.

lived in the forest, and the animals were not afraid of him. He and the wild animals used to talk together, and they understood one another.

Once the Hermit lay down under a tree, and a Raven, a Dove, a Stag, and a Snake came to the same place to sleep.

The animals began to reason why evil should exist in the world.

The Raven said:—

"It is all owing to hunger that there is evil in the world. When we have as much as we wish to eat, we sit by ourselves on the bough and caw, and everything is good and gay, and we are in every respect well off; but some other day we are famished, and everything is quite the opposite, so that we can see no brightness in God's world, and we feel full of unrest; we fly about from place to place, and there is no rest for us. And even if we see some meat afar off, then it becomes still worse; for if we fly down to get it, either sticks and stones are thrown at us, or wolves and dogs chase us, and we are absolutely destroyed. How much trouble comes upon us from hunger! All evil is caused by it."

The Dove said:—

"In my opinion, evil does not arise from hunger, but