Let Someone Else Do It
Three travelers walked one after another along a deserted road. A storm caught them: a strong wind began to blow, snow started falling, and a blizzard howled. With each passing minute, the blizzard grew fiercer and fiercer, and the nearest village was still far away.What were the three travelers to do? The one who walked ahead decided to wait out the storm in an old, empty temple. The second and third travelers also decided to take shelter in the temple. And so, they all found themselves together.
Dusk had already fallen, but the storm did not subside; instead, it grew even stronger. The travelers were completely frozen.
- "What cold weather! I can't bear it anymore..." said the first.
- "My hands and feet have gone numb," remarked the second.
- "If this continues, we might freeze to death," added the third.
Then they all fell silent, and the first one spoke again:
- "If we could gather some firewood and light a fire, we could warm up."
- "Yes! That would be very good!" said the second.
- "Yes, yes, of course!" agreed the third. "If we could bring some firewood, we could spend the night here."
All three talked about it, but none of them moved to gather the firewood. Meanwhile, the frost grew more and more intense.
Then the first one turned to the second:
- "Go, neighbor, and fetch the firewood! I would do it myself, but my legs hurt."
The second one said to the third:
- "My stomach hurts badly; you go and get the firewood."
But the third one turned to the first:
- "You'd better go; I'm feeling dizzy and can barely stand on my feet."
And so, they argued. All three were perfectly healthy, but they were too afraid to do even a little more than the others.
The first one thought: "I'm not their servant, and I won't go for firewood."
The second one thought: "If they're not going, I won't go either. Why should I do more than anyone else?"
The third one thought: "Why should I go for firewood? Let someone else do it!"
Midnight came. The wind howled, and the frost grew even more severe. Each of the travelers thought: "I can't bear this cold any longer! When will someone finally go and fetch the firewood?"
But they all froze, and none of them moved.
In the morning, three frozen travelers were found in the temple.
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