THE TEACHER was a master at telling stories which his pupils listened to with awe and delight. But whenever they left his presence and compared notes, each one of them had understood the story in a different way. So they tried to pool their understanding in the belief that since each one had received a piece of the truth, they could put them together and make a whole truth.

But when they did so, they found the result tasteless and often self-contradictory. So they took counselled themselves and decided to put it straight to the Teacher.

"Master," they said, "you tell us beautiful stories but why do you not interpret them for, us so that we will not misunderstand l them?"

"If a fruit seller ate the fruit he sold to you and left you only the skin, he would be cheating you , would he not?" replied the Teacher.

"But surely if you are teaching us the truth, we should all understand it in the identical way?" they protested.

"If you want the same medicine you must not go to a doctor who gives you specifics for your own case, but to an apothecary ~ who will sell you patent medicine," said the Teacher.