A
boatman and a scholar
There was a poor boatman in a village.
He was illiterate. He used to row in boat from morning till evening only to
meet his both ends meet. It was the beginning of the summer season. There was
only one passenger in the boat who was a scholar. The boatman set sail and the
boat was advancing smoothly. The scholar said to the boatman, “Did you read
history?” The boatman said, “No.” The scholar told him that without any
knowledge of history one-third of his life was spoiled. He looked at the
beautiful scenery and asked again whether he had read geography. As before the
reply of the boatman was in the negative. This time the scholar said that one
half of the boatman’s life was spoiled. Then they were silent for some time. It
was afternoon. The scholar broke the silence and said to the boatman, “Do you
know anything about science?” He replied in the negative. The scholar said to
him that his life was of no use. Three-fourths of his life were spoiled.
Hearing this, the boatman remained silent. All of a sudden, the sky became
covered with dark clouds. The ‘nor’wester’ began to blow in the form of a
storm. The scholar was very much frightened. This time the boatman said to him,
“Sir, do you know how to swim?” The scholar replied in the negative in a
pitiful voice. The boatman said, “The boat is going to sink. Now I see, the
whole of your life is spoiled. Your bookish knowledge is of no use.” Moral of
the story: “One should not ignore the
illiterate.”
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