Indian fairy tale wise men and elephant. The elephant and the blind wise men - a parable

There are many versions of this parable, the author of which is unknown to me. It is often told at trainings and used in coaching practice. This story helps to look beyond their beliefs and "crawl" out of the hole in which people often drive themselves. I translated it today from the English version that I like best...

chained elephant

When I was a boy, I was very fond of the circus, and of all the animals, I was most fascinated by the elephant. Later I found out that this is the favorite animal of all children. During the performance, it demonstrated its huge mass, size and strength... But after the show, until its return to the stage, the elephant was tied to a small peg. The chain held his legs. However, the peg was tiny and barely driven into the ground. Although the chain was large and strong, it seemed obvious to me that an animal capable of uprooting trees from the ground could easily break free and get away. For me it was incomprehensible. What kept him? Why didn't he run away?

When I was 5 or 6 years old, I still believed in the wisdom of adults. I asked these questions to my teacher, father and uncle. One of them explained to me that the elephant had been tamed. And I asked the obvious question: "If he is tamed, why is he kept chained?" I don't remember getting an answer that satisfied me. Then I forgot about the riddle of the chained elephant and remembered it only when one company suddenly started talking about the same topic.

A few years ago I discovered that someone was wise enough to find the answer. The elephant in the circus did not run away, because he was used to this peg from a very young age.

I closed my eyes and imagined a helpless baby elephant tied to a peg. I'm sure he was pushing and pulling the chain with all his might, trying to free himself. But, despite his best efforts, he did not succeed, because the peg was too strong. I imagined him falling asleep when all his strength had already been exhausted, and the next day trying to break out again, and the next day after that ...

Until one day, a terrible day for his entire subsequent life, the animal took his weakness for granted and resigned himself to fate. This huge and powerful elephant that we see in the circus does not run away because the poor animal thinks it cannot run away. The memory of the weakness he felt shortly after his birth remained forever in his head. And worst of all, he never questioned those memories. He never tried to test his strength again...

And so it happens. We are all more or less like that circus elephant. We travel the world chained to hundreds of pegs that take away our freedom. We live, continuing to believe that we are not capable of more just because once, a very long time ago, when we were small, we tried to do something and we did not succeed. Then the same thing happened to us as with the elephant. The memory will forever have a memory: "I can't, I can't, and I never will."

We live within the boundaries of the memory of the person we once were and who no longer exists. That person never made it.

The only way to know if it works this time is to try to do something again by collecting all mental strength... all the strength of our soul.

Dedicated to all those who are still chained to small or large pegs, unaware of their great strength, and afraid to take a step forward...

The text of the parable in English:

The Chained Elephant

When I was a young boy I really loved the circus, and most of all the animals I was fascinated by the Elephant, which I later I found out, is the favorite animal of all kids. During the show the big animal was demonstrating its huge weight, its size and strength… but, after the show and before he had to return back to the stage, the elephant was standing tied up to a small pole in the ground. A chain was keeping its feet imprisoned. Nevertheless, the pole was really tiny and hardly dug into the ground. Although the chain was big and strong, it seemed obvious to me that an animal with the strength to uproot trees could easily break free and walk away. I thought of it as a mystery. What was keeping him? Why wouldn't he run away?

When I was 5 or 6 years old I still believed in grownup wisdom. I asked my teacher, my father and my uncle, of the mystery of the Elephant. Someone explained to me that the elephant had been tamed. So I made the obvious question: “If he has been tamed, why do they have to keep him chained?” I don't remember getting a satisfactory answer. In time I forgot the mystery of the chained Elephant to the pole and remembered it only when in the company of people who had once held the same question on the subject.

Few years ago I discovered that someone was wise enough to find the answer. The Elephant of the circus is not running away, because he is used to that very same pole from a very young age.

I closed my eyes and I imagined the newly born defenseless Elephant tied to the pole. I am sure that back then the little Elephant pushed and pulled and sweated trying to get free. But, in spite of all his efforts, he didn't succeed because the pole was too strong for him. I imagined him sleeping exhausted and next day trying again, and the day after the same…

…Until one day, an awful day in his history, the animal admitted to his weakness and submitted to his destiny. This enormous and powerful elephant we can see in the circus is not running away because the poor animal thinks he can’t. The memory of the weakness he felt shortly after his birth is forever engraved in his mind. And the worst is that he never seriously questioned this memory. He never tried to test his strength…

This is how it is. We are all more or less like the Elephant of the circus. We travel around the world chained to hundreds of poles that take away our freedom. We live believing “We can’t” do so many things just because once, a long time ago, when we were young, we tried and we didn’t succeed. Then the same thing happened to us as to the Elephant. The same message “was engraved in our memory”: I can’t I can’t, and I never will.

We live inside the boundaries of a memory of the person we were once and who doesn't exist anymore. That person didn't make it.

The only way to find out if we can, is by trying again with all the power of our soul…all the power of our soul.

Dedicated to all those still chained to small or big poles, not being conscious of their enormous strength, afraid of taking a step forward…

And after that, a few questions that you can ask for reflection:

How are you or someone else like an elephant or a baby elephant?

What can be called the "chain" that you are attached to?

What happens if you get free?

Are there any situations in which you gave up and refused to fight?

What do you think about your own abilities? Which of these beliefs should be changed?

• One day the best student approached the Teacher with a question. “Master, everyone is so excited about the fact that in Chinese the word crisis is written with two characters – “danger” and “opportunity.” And I don't understand what's wrong with that. Help me understand this. The Master's eyebrows went up in surprise, and anger lit up in his eyes. - How so? You, […]

• In the upper reaches great river lived an old teacher. Many came to him with questions about life - and his answers were always full of wisdom. On a clear sunny morning, one of his disciples entered the Teacher's garden. - Teacher, explain to me: what is the difference smart person from a fool? The teacher didn’t just sit around – he ate morning tea […]

• I think this is the most interesting case of all those described in this section. We are talking about the triumphant confirmation of one theory. A theory that seemed crazy to many. In short, this theory sounds like this: “if one window is broken in a house and no one replaces it, it means that soon there won’t be a single whole window left in this house at all.” Initially, her […]

• Ruled once in Africa, one native king. And this king had true friend. They knew each other since childhood, grew up together. And this friend had a habit—a strange habit. Whatever happened in life, he briefly thought about it and said: "this is good." One day the king and his friend went hunting. Friend like […]

• Once upon a time there was a lawyer in the state of North Carolina. A very smart lawyer. Once this lawyer came up with an ingenious scheme that allows you to smoke expensive and rare cigars for free. I must say that this lawyer was very fond of expensive and rare cigars. The preparation was simple - the lawyer bought a box of very good cigars. There were 24 cigars in the box. Then he came to the […]

There were once six blind people in a village. Somehow they heard: “Hey, an elephant came to us!” The blind had no idea what an elephant was or what it might look like. They decided, "Since we can't see it, we'll go and at least touch it."

"An elephant is a column," said the first blind man who touched the elephant's leg. “An elephant is a rope,” said the second one, who grabbed him by the tail. "No! It is a thick bough of a tree,” said a third, whose hand passed over the trunk. “He looks like a big fan,” said the fourth blind man, who took the animal by the ear. “The elephant is a big barrel,” said the fifth blind man, feeling his stomach.

“It looks more like a smoking pipe,” concluded the blind man, running it over the tusk.
They began to argue heatedly and each insisted on his own. It is not known how it would have ended if a wise man passing by had not become interested in the cause of their heated argument. To the question: "What's the matter?" the blind replied, "We can't figure out what an elephant looks like." And each of them said what he thought about the elephant.

Then the wise man calmly explained to them: “You are all right. The reason why you judge differently is because each of you touched different parts of the elephant. In fact, the elephant has everything that you are talking about. Everyone immediately felt joy, because everyone was right.

Morality lies in the fact that in judgments different people about the same thing, most often only a fraction of the truth. Sometimes we can see part of the truth of the other, and sometimes not, because we look at the subject from different angles of view, which rarely coincide.

Therefore, we should not argue until we are blue in the face, it is more reasonable to say: “Yes, I understand, you may have certain reasons to think so.”

Blind and elephant. Parable

Elephant and the blind
The Parable of the Blind and the Elephant

There were once six blind people in a village. Somehow they heard: “Hey, an elephant came to us!” The blind had no idea what an elephant was or what it might look like. They decided, "Since we can't see it, we'll go and at least touch it."

"An elephant is a column," said the first blind man who touched the elephant's leg. “An elephant is a rope,” said the second one, who grabbed him by the tail. "No! It is a thick bough of a tree,” said a third, whose hand passed over the trunk. “He looks like a big fan,” said the fourth blind man, who took the animal by the ear. “The elephant is a big barrel,” said the fifth blind man, feeling his stomach.

“It looks more like a smoking pipe,” concluded the blind man, running it over the tusk.
They began to argue heatedly and each insisted on his own. It is not known how it would have ended if a wise man passing by had not become interested in the cause of their heated argument. To the question: "What's the matter?" the blind replied, "We can't figure out what an elephant looks like." And each of them said what he thought about the elephant.

Then the wise man calmly explained to them: “You are all right. The reason why you judge differently is because each of you touched different parts of the elephant. In fact, the elephant has everything that you are talking about. Everyone immediately felt joy, because everyone was right.

The moral is that in the judgments of different people about the same thing, most often there is only a grain of truth. Sometimes we can see part of the truth of the other, and sometimes not, because we look at the subject from different angles of view, which rarely coincide.
Therefore, we should not argue until we are blue in the face, it is more reasonable to say: “Yes, I understand, you may have certain reasons to think so.”

Sometime for fun
Servants led to the Raja
To the palace of the three blind
From the birth of people...
Well, to laugh
The master succeeded in full
Brought with three blind men
To the palace of the raja of the elephant ...
People crowded around the palace
Everyone was waiting impatiently
That now something will be here:
The Raja has thought of something!..
The servants were taken to the square,
Where an elephant waited, three blind men
And told them to touch
Solve their riddle.
First, touching the trunk
And I can't control myself
Turned pale and, recoiling,
He cried out in horror: “Boa constrictor!
Why, such a bastard
Spit once - kill me! -
And that blind man's reward
There was merry laughter from the crowd.
And the second, declaring with his hands
The strong leg of an elephant,
He said that the elephant is like a stone,
That he is a living rock.
The screams got louder
Laughter became louder
After all, the people have long been very
Didn't see such fun.
The third timidly touched his ear
This "stone snake".
Finally, gathering my courage,
He expressed his thoughts:
"Though to imagine the beast
I could hardly do it
Still, I think it's probably
The elephant is a huge ... moth!
I am his big wing
At this moment I hold it in my hands! -
Laughter exploded over the crowd
Laughter choked the raja...
His fun was a success! ..
At that moment alone
It just wasn't funny.
Shocked elephant...
"Yes, I am strong as a stone,
Yes, I'm strong as a boa constrictor
But the soul under the clouds
I flutter like a moth!”
And, "seen" by the blind,
Grateful for their words
Put the blind on their backs
And took them home...
At that moment the elephant realized
And I saw well:
Blind is not he who is blind with his eyes,
A sighted one who sees with his soul...
We are sometimes blind
And we scare ourselves in vain ...
And in the elephant we are so ridiculous
All we see is an elephant!

There is a parable about three blind men examining an elephant.

One, touching the elephant, says: "Oh, it looks like a wall."
Another touched the elephant's leg and said, "It's a tree."
The third grabs the elephant by the tail and says: “Well, what are you, this is a rope!”

This parable also has an unexpected continuation.

Three blind elephants decided to find out what kind of person is.
The first felt and said that he was flat and wet.
The other two felt and agreed ....

And the meaning in it is this - the world cannot be intellect
Though hundreds of blind or sighted comprehend!
The one who created everything knows the vector
Which will help you not to go astray.

You have it different and with all the meaning and style,
You are headed by humanity, soul ...
But no matter how much the soul invested efforts,
The blind will not be able to "see" the frogs.

Beyond the mountains was a large city. All its inhabitants were blind. One day, a foreign king with his army encamped near a city in the desert. The royal army had a huge war elephant, which glorified itself in many battles. With his very appearance, he plunged his enemies into awe. All the inhabitants of the city were eager to know what it was - an elephant, and several blind people of this community ran like crazy to find out.

Having no idea about what elephants are, they began to feel it from all sides. Each of them, feeling some part of him, decided that now he knows something. When they returned, they were surrounded by a crowd of impatient townspeople. Deeply deluded, the blind longed to learn the truth from those who themselves were in error. People asked about the shape and size of the elephant and listened to their explanations.

The man touching the elephant's ear said, "An elephant is something big, wide and rough, like a carpet."

But the one who felt the trunk said: “I have authentic information about it. It looks like a straight hollow pipe, terrible and destructive”

“The elephant is powerful and strong, like a column,” objected another, who felt the leg and foot of the elephant.
laughing elephant

The most fun is the elephant himself;)

This parable allegorically explains why people can have radically opposite opinions (at first glance) on the same topic.

Most of us are blind. We see reality through the prism of our own beliefs, our own personality, our own system, right or wrong, through the prism of our own experience, etc. This makes us practically blind, since in most cases our knowledge of things is partial, superficial and subjective, and the greater the degree of abstraction of something about which we make our judgment, the more blind we are.

That is why there are radically opposite opinions regarding such abstract concepts like love, god, friendship, freedom and so on. The main joke is that everyone is right. And the one who claims one thing and the one who claims something completely different. Everyone just touched different part elephant and mixed it with his subjective opinion about such an experience.

about the elephant and the blind wise men

There were once six blind people in a village. Somehow they heard: “Hey, an elephant came to us!” The blind had no idea what an elephant was or what it might look like. They decided, "Since we can't see it, we'll go and at least touch it."

“I know,” said one wise man, “we will feel it.”
— A good idea others agreed. - So we can find out what kind of ELEPHANT he is.
So the six wise men went to “look” at the elephant.
The first groped for a large flat ear. It moved slowly back and forth.
- It's a fan! The elephant is like a fan! he exclaimed.
The second sage stood near the elephant's leg and touched it. She was round and powerful.
“Mmm… it’s something round and thick… The elephant looks like a tree!” he exclaimed.
You are both wrong. - said the third. - Yes, it is round, but not thick and also very flexible! It looks like a rope! This wise man felt the elephant's tail.
- Oh no! The elephant looks like a spear! Yes - round, yes - thin, but not flexible! exclaimed a fourth, who was feeling the elephant's tusks.
- No, no, - shouted the fifth, - an elephant, like a high wall. Big, wide and rough. - he said, feeling the side of the elephant.
The sixth wise man held an elephant's trunk in his hands.
“You are all wrong,” he said, “an elephant is like a snake.
- No, on the rope!
- No, a snake!
- Wall!
- You are wrong!
- I'm right!
The six blind sages shouted uncontrollably at each other. Their argument went on all day. Then another one, then a week, and they never came to a consensus. Each sage imagined only what his hands could feel and he believed only in himself.
As a result, everyone thought that only he was right and knew what an elephant looked like. Nobody wanted to listen to what others told him.
So they never knew what an elephant looked like.

* * *
The English poet John Sachs put the parable into verse, as a result of which this allegory gained great fame in English-speaking countries. In Russian, it became popular under the name "Scientific dispute" in the translation of Samuil Marshak.

Blind men, there were five of them,
Came to Bombay to study
Indian elephant.
Examining the elephant's side,
One said the elephant is tall
And strong as a wall.
Another on the elephant's trunk
He passed his hand
And said that the elephant is one
From safe snakes.
The third felt two fangs,
And he claims:
- On two honed bayonets
Looks like an Indian elephant!
Blind fourth, scratching
elephant knee,
Established that the elephant is rough,
Like an old pine.
And the fifth, going up to the elephant
From the side of the tail
Determined that the elephant is long
No more than a worm.
There were strife among the blind
And they lasted a whole year.
Then the blind in the end
They put their hands in motion.
And since the fifth was strong, -
He covered everyone's mouths.
And from now on the elephant consists
From one tail!

* * *
There is also an alternative humorous version of this parable:

One day six blind elephants gathered in the hope of finding out by joint
efforts, what is a person.
One elephant touched the man with his foot and said: "A man is something small and flat."
The rest also felt the man with their foot and unanimously agreed with the first.