In a village lived a learned man. His wisdom and humility were renowned far and wide. Knowledge, kindness, and philanthropy were integral to his nature. He helped everyone and treated others with respect. These qualities made him even more admirable.
But not everyone appreciates goodness. A foolish man in the village resented the learned man's popularity. He felt envious, resentful, and constantly spoke against him. Whenever he heard someone praise the learned man, he would angrily retort, "I don't see anything special about him! People are just falsely praising him!"
The learned man never paid attention to his words. He quietly went about his life. But the foolish man took this as a victory. He believed everyone agreed with him and continued to speak ill of the learned man even more.
An Incident One Day
At the village gathering, people were praising the learned man. Then the foolish man again spoke up, "You all praise him for no reason; he doesn't deserve it!"
A young man sitting at the gathering disliked this. He asked the foolish man:
"Have you ever seen an owl?"
The foolish man said, "Yes, why not?"
"Can an owl see during the day?"
The foolish man, irritated, said, "Absolutely not!"
The young man smiled and said, "So, does that mean the beauty of the day diminishes?"
The foolish man fell silent.
The young man explained, "Similarly, if you cannot see the goodness of the learned man, it is your problem, not his. Like the day, he too is bright, but you are blind like an owl. By criticizing him, you are only revealing your own foolishness!"
Hearing this, the foolish man felt ashamed and stopped speaking ill of the learned man forever.
Moral of the Story
Being intelligent is good, but thinking that only you are intelligent is a sign of arrogance and foolishness. An open mind is necessary to recognize true knowledge.
