A donkey and a tiger were talking. The donkey said to the tiger, “The grass is blue.”
The tiger replied, “No, the grass is green.”
The discussion heated up, and the two decided to submit to arbitration, and for this they went before the lion, the King of the Jungle.
When they reached the forest clearing, where the lion was sitting on his throne, the donkey began to bray, “Your Highness, isn’t it true that the grass is blue?”
The lion replied, “Yes, the grass is blue.”
The donkey smiled and said, “The tiger disagrees with me, contradicts me, and annoys me. You must punish him.”
The lion then declared, “The tiger will be punished with five years of silence.”
The donkey jumped cheerfully and went on his way, braying, “The grass is blue. I am right, the grass is blue.”
The tiger accepted his punishment, but he asked the lion, “Your Majesty, why have you punished me? After all, the grass is green.”
The lion replied, “Yes, in fact, the grass is green.”
The tiger asked, “So why are you punishing me?”
The lion replied, “Your punishment has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. Your punishment is because a brave and intelligent creature like you wasted your time arguing with a donkey, and then, on top of that, you came to bother me with such a question.
“It’s a waste of time arguing with a fool and fanatic who does not care about truth or reality, but only about the victory of his beliefs and his illusions. Never waste time on arguments with someone like that.
“There are those who, no matter how many facts or how much evidence we present to them, are never willing to consider or accept it. And there are others who are so blinded by ego, hatred, and resentment, that all they want is to be right even if they are not.
“When ignorance screams, intelligence is silent. Your peace and quiet are worth more.”
Written for Sadje’s What Do You See prompt. photo credit: Arleen Wiese @ Unsplash.
Note: This fable is not original. I saw a version of it published on Facebook a while back and when I saw the photo in Sadje’s prompt, it reminded me of the fable, so I rewrote it here…mostly from memory. Please excuse me for not writing something original for this prompt, but I’m on vacation, so cut me some slack, will you?
This, That, and the Other 
Excellent story Fandango and very good conclusion. Thank you for joining in
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But I’m sure the grass has always been blue?……
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Only Kentucky bluegrass.
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So there was some truth in what I said?……
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“A healthy Kentucky bluegrass lawn is rich emerald to blue-green color.”
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Sounds I was part right…..
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It’s a wonderful fable — and very metaphoric, too! Thanks for telling it here!
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This is exactly why I try not to talk with Republicans.
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A message well worth repeating. Unfortunately, the donkeys in the crowd will insist they are wearing black and orange stripes. Enjoy your vacation!
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Thanks, Greg.
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Great Fable : here’s my take https://inkdrops.blog/2022/09/27/some-goalie/
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its a good fable! I like it! ❤
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It does work like a fable. Well written. There are two sad aspects, though, as there are often contradictory aspects. For one, the lion is like past Republican leaders: Sure, the grass is blue. [Vote for me.]
{Most of the current leaders are pretty crazy themselves.}
Second, arbitration suggests (in real life) that someone is being harmed. It is not uncommon that people are left harmed/in harms way because other people don’t want to bother, speak up, or attest to the truth.
And, now, for a true life experience when I myself was, indeed, silent. This is a very simplified, shortened telling. My mother got me involved with a conservative organization when I was super young. I was conservative but found out my mom isn’t (or has not the mental capacity to comprehend). In her old age, only after my father died so she could tell herself the lie that he never asked her to join the church in which he grew until he married her, she converted to Catholicism. Since I didn’t convert (or do something she might consider submitting)* after pursuing my own point of view throughout life upon having been raised with a differing type of religion I respected, she made a habit to accuse me of being anti-Catholic (I guess you have to be either Catholic or anti-Catholic). Anyway, I took her to church and was ready to do so every week and more. I took her to an autumn fair. I played bingo. I took her, twice, to an anti-abortion 🎥 showing of a film at the church she attends.
The reason we went more than once was because the organizers didn’t have consistently-fuctioning equipment the first time. The second time, my mom sat there next to me telling me circumstances in which abortion should happen — such as if a young woman doesn’t have a job or if the baby would be black. This is not the insistent [at least in all outward appearances I’ve seen] position of the Catholic Church. (Nor of the conservatism I was trained in, while hers is probably more consistent with the conservatives of today — and she was not the type of conservative of my day but lived in hypocrisy for who the hell knows what “reason” or purpose.) It is additionally not the position of a feminist. There is no should to be imposed on a woman’s body.
* In fact, I don’t think there would be any converting going on in their eyes (the actual Catholic establishment) as I was “christened” as an infant due to the reality that my dad had asked my mom to become Catholic, and she was in their membership course. Meanwhile… Mom told me, when I was an adolescent, why she had personally decided not to join the Catholic Church when my dad wanted her to (but was not an insistent person in that regard). I, by way of contrast, defended my dad’s wish (in response to her mocking) that he begin attendance at a Catholic Church again when he was in his late fifties. He attended, then, but did not partake of the “eucharist” (I follow suit).
I have had the argument with my mom, long ago when everyone was younger, when a member of the family had been pushed into an abortion and regretted it (but was not, herself, conservative except possibly in the libertarian sense of being an economic triumphalist or economically conservative). I had to explain to my non-wise elder, too, that my cousin wasn’t shaming herself or the family by subsequently being with a woman.
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I profoundly enjoyed this 😀 ~ very well written!
~David
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Thank you, David.
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