The Blind Men and the Elephant

By John G. Saxe

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It was six men of Indostan,

     To learning much inclined,

Who went to see the elephant,

     (Though all of them were blind,)

That each by observation

     Might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant,

     And, happening to fall

Against his broad and sturdy side,

     At once began to bawl

"God bless me! but the elephant

     Is very like a wall!"

The second, feeling of the tusk,

     Cried: "Ho! what have we here.

So very round, and smooth, and sharp?

     To me 'tis very clear,

This wonder of an elephant

     Is very like a spear!"

The third approached the animal,

     And, happening to take

The squirming trunk within his hands,

     Thus boldly up he spoke:

"I see," quoth he, "the elephant

     Is very like a snake!"

The fourth reached out his eager hand,

     And felt about the knee:

"What most this wondrous beast is like

     Is very plain," quoth he;

"'Tis clear enough the elephant

     Is very like a tree!"

The fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,

     Said: "E'en the blindest man

Can tell what this resembles most:

     Deny the fact who can,

This marvel of an elephant

     Is very like a fan!"  

The sixth no sooner had begun

     About the beast to grope,

Than, seizing on the swinging tail

     That fell within his scope,

"I see," quoth he, "the elephant

     Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan

     Disputed loud and long,

Each in his own opinion

     Exceeding stiff and strong,

Though each was partly in the right

     And all were in the wrong!

 
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