The lame village
June 2010
When an accident deprived the village headman of the use of his legs, he took to walking on crutches.
He gradually developed the ability to move with speed – even to dance and execute little pirouettes for the entertainment of his neighbours.
Then he took it into his head to train his children in the use of crutches. It soon became a status symbol in the village to walk on crutches, and before long everyone was doing so.
By the fourth generation no one in the village could walk without crutches. The village school included 'Crutchery – Theoretical – Applied' in its curriculum and the village craftsmen became famous for the quality of the crutches they produced. There was even talk of developing an electronic, battery-operated set of crutches!
| 'I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game’s winning shot… and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed' - by Michael Jordan | ||
'Agreed!' replied the young man. A demonstration was fixed for the following Sunday at the village square. Everyone was there when the young man hobbled on his crutches to the middle of the square, stood upright, and dropped his crutches. A hush fell on the crowd as he took a bold step forward – and fell flat on his face.
The villagers burst into jeering laughter and a few turned around to hobble back home. But what was this! The young man had lifted himself back to the ground. He took one tottering footstep and then another and finally he was walking, tall and straight.
The stunned villagers threw away their crutches and painfully learnt to walk again.
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