« Louisiana and Florida | Main | Samuel Beckett's Film »
November 06, 2005
A Parable
Here is one of Kafka's favorite parables. It is also one of mine. I don't have Kafka's version in front of me, but it goes something like this:
A group is sitting together in an inn. They are all friends, except for a beggar who is a stranger. The three friends describe what they would be if they each were given the chance to live another life. The first friend wishes for money, the second for a new tool bench, and the third for a better son-in-law to replace the loser he now has. Then the beggar says, "I wish I were a king living in a castle, until one day the castle is attacked by revolutionaries and I am forced to escape in just my pajamas and leave all me possessions behind. I run for miles and miles, sneak across the border, and keep on running until I get to this inn.
"What's the point of that wish?" asks one of the friends.
"I'd have pajamas," says the beggar.
Kafka aside, I'd like to believe the best answer is that you would do everything exactly the same way, in exactly the same order, over and over again.
Posted by apc at November 6, 2005 12:00 PM