is
manner, they came to a valley, in which reigned a king called Tammaro.
Now, in a certain inclosure toward the head of the valley, there stood
an immense wild banian tree; all over moss, and many centuries old,
and forming quite a wood in itself: its thousand boughs striking into
the earth, and fixing there as many gigantic trunks. With Tammaro, it
had long been a question, which of those many trunks was the original
and true one; a matter that had puzzled the wisest heads among his
subjects; and in vain had a reward been offered for the solution of
the perplexity. But the tree was so vast, and its fabric so complex;
and its rooted branches so similar in appearance; and so numerous,
from the circumstance that every year had added to them, that it was
quite impossible to determine the point. Nevertheless, no sooner did
the nine blind men hear that there was a reward offered for
discovering the trunk of a tree, standing all by itself, than, one and
all, they assured Tammaro, that they would quickly settle that little
difficulty of his; and loudly inveighed against the stupidity of his
sages, who had been so easily posed. So, being conducted into the
inclosure, and assured that the tree was somewhere within, they
separated their forces, so as at wide intervals to surround it at a
distance; when feeling their way, with their staves and their noses,
they advanced to the search, crying out--'Pshaw! make room there; let
us wise men feel of the mystery.' Presently, striking with his nose
one of the rooted branches, the foremost blind man quickly knelt down;
and feeling that it struck into the earth, gleefully shouted: Here it
is! here it is!' But almost in the same breath, his companions, also,
each striking a branch with his staff or his nose, cried out in like
manner, 'Here it is! here it is!' Whereupon they were all confounded:
but directly, the man who first cried out, thus addressed the rest:
Good friends, surely you're mistaken. There is but one tree in the
place, and here it is.' 'Very true,' said the others, 'all together;
there is only _one_ tree; but _here_ it is.' 'Nay,' said the others,
'it is _here!_' and so saying, each blind man triumphantly felt of the
branch, where it penetrated into the earth. Then again said the first
speaker: Good friends, if you will not believe what I say, come
hither, and feel for yourselves.' 'Nay, nay,' replied they, why seek
further? _here_ it is; and nowhere else can it be.' 'You bl