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Monday, October 13, 2003
Flavier: The parable of the old men
By Sen. Juan Flavier
THE rich landlord was the epitome of a miser. He would not part with any of his material possessions. Not even with the leftovers on his dining table.
To prevent relatives and other barrio folk from pestering him, he built his house at the edge of the barrio. It was at least half a kilometer from the main road. Around the site was his farmland lush with various crops.
A high concrete fence surrounded the house. On the upper part of the tall structure were broken glass embedded in cement plus a few layers of barbed wire.
The gate was made of thick steel plates, which were double locked as soon as darkness descended.
Only two structures were allowed to be built in his land. Both were small nipa huts on either side of the big house outside the fence. The occupants were two elderly farmers. They served as security but doubled as household help. The two were the only ones who ever had access to the big house.
But only by day. At night, they retired to their respective huts on each side of the fence. By the nature of his miserly life, the whole barrio talked incessantly of the great wealth surely kept inside the house. However, no one was certain. Nobody had actually seen the money, nor the jewelries or gold bars.
One morning, the rich landowner went to the Capitol to report the theft of a gold bar. He was an influential man so the Governor went with some police escorts to investigate. Being the only ones nearby, the two old men on either
side of the fence were the prime suspects.
The first old man was asked what he had seen that night. "I went to bed early and slept soundly until now that you woke me up. I never saw the bar of gold that you speak of. I never arose. Anyway, in my advanced age, I have no interest in material wealth."
The second elderly farmer was likewise awakened and questioned. But before he would answer, he requested to go to relieve his bladder. Then he returned to answer, "I went to bed early. Yes, I woke several times to wee-wee, but I did not go past two meters from my hut."
Immediately, the governor exclaimed, "The first old man we questioned stole the gold bar. Search his hut!"
True enough, they found the gold bar in a freshly dug hole behind his hut.
"You have brains!" acknowledged the rich man. "How did you know?"
"It is not a matter of brains," replied the governor. "It is a matter of bladder. An old man who says he slept through the night without relieving himself is lying!"
(October 13, 2003 issue)
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