Fire, Water, and Honor
You can choose to believe or not to believe what is being told here. But listen to the end, and you will agree that this is the most instructive story you have ever come across. Once upon a time, Fire and Water met on their journey. Fire does not like to stay in one place. Even when it is locked in a stove or a hearth, it is always thinking about how to escape. Water is also restless, always striving to go somewhere. So, they decided to take a walk in their free time.No sooner had they greeted each other than they saw Honor approaching. Fire and Water were surprised, for they had never met Honor on the road before. She was not the kind of frivolous lady to run from one place to another or wander along the roads. They did not know that today she had been forced to leave a certain noble gentleman who had committed a dishonorable act.
"Madam Honor," said Fire and Water, "would you do us the honor of taking a walk with us?"
"Thank you for the invitation," replied Honor. "I am sure it will be a pleasant journey. But, forgive me, it is my rule to always know what my companions are up to."
"Oh, do not worry, Madam Honor," gurgled Water, "you will not have to be ashamed of walking beside me. I quench the thirst of travelers, wash, clean, irrigate fields, and turn mill wheels."
Water was telling the absolute truth. She only omitted the fact that sometimes her gurgling turns into a deafening roar, and then she breaks dams, floods villages, and smashes ships to splinters. But who would want to speak of such things, especially at the first meeting?
"And I," said Fire, "light and warm homes, cook meals, and help blacksmiths forge iron."
Fire did not want to appear worse than Water in front of Honor. So, he also omitted a few things. For example, that when he gets carried away, he can burn down an entire village or, falling from the sky, split an old oak tree that could have stood for another three hundred years.
Honor, who was very meticulous but trusting, was delighted with such companions.
"Then let us walk together, friends!" she exclaimed.
"Wait," said Fire, "on the journey, one of us might turn aside or fall behind. We must agree on how we will find each other. From afar, you can recognize me by the smoke, because, as you know, there is no smoke without fire."
Water said:
"Do not look for me where the plants have turned yellow and wilted, where the earth is cracked from the heat. I am where the weeping willows, alders, reeds, and tall green grass grow."
"As for me," said Honor, "I have no special signs. If you wish to be friends with me, tirelessly watch so that I am not lost. Protect me as a one-eyed man protects his only eye. For such is my remarkable property, ladies and gentlemen: whoever loses me will never find me again."
And Honor, the only one of the three, told the absolute truth, omitting nothing.
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