The man went back home not
feeling too happy this time, but he was still determined to return the next
day. And so he did. Upon arrival, the old wise man said to him, “I can see you
are really ready to make peace at last.”
“Yes,” replied the former
slanderer, “I have realized my mistakes and really need your forgiveness.”
“Okay, just this last thing for
you to do.”
“Say it and I will do!”
The wise sage looked at the hand
of the other old man and saw the empty calabash. He continued, “Now you will
have to go back to the cliff with the empty calabash. Go and gather all that is
left of the fine flour back in it then bring it to me, and then I will fully
forgive you.”
Reluctantly, the Old slanderer
went back to the cliff and found only some few patches of the white flour on
the surface of the cliff. It all had been blown hither and thither by the heavy
winds of the kangaroo cliff. There was nothing left for him to gather together again,
so he returned to the sage dejected.
On seeing the dejected soul, the
wise old man did not even allow him to speak, because he could guess already
what had happened. It was a lesson he was trying to teach his old friend. So he
began, “We all need to be careful with what we say about others with our tongues.
Just as the wind blew away all the fine flour and cannot be retrieved again so
is our word if not properly cautioned? Once we realized we have said something
bad about someone, it becomes very difficult to revert it after the false
rumour must had spread near and far.
“The speed of the mouth is faster
than those of the feet. That is to say, where your utterances can get to, your
feet cannot easily travel there. You tell a lie to someone about someone and
that someone tells it to another person, and so the process goes on and on
until the lie becomes true to some. But then you realize that you want to make
some corrections; but you do not know how far the lie has gone. Please my friend let’s listen more and talk
less.
“But I forgive you!”
The last sentence livened up the
already downtrodden man seeking forgiveness. He had finally realized his
mistakes and had been forgiven. Instantaneously, he jumped up and the two old
men hugged frantically as they smiled together with tears rolling down their
cheeks. They became best of friends until the end.
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