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In issue nr. 106 of Jornalinho, (Portugal),
I find a story which teaches us much about that which we choose
without thinking:
One day, a calf needed to cross a
virgin forest in order to return to its pasture. Being an irrational
animal, it forged out a tortuous path full of bends, up and down
hills.
The next day, a dog came by and used
the same path to cross the forest. Next it was a sheep's turn, the
head of a flock which, upon finding the opening, led its companions
through it.
Later, men began using the path: they
entered and left, turned to the right, to the left, bent down, deviating
obstacles, complaining and cursing - and quite rightly so. But they
did nothing to create a different alternative.
After so much use, in the end, the
path became a trail along which poor animals toiled under heavy
loads, being forced to go three hours to cover a distance which
would normally take thirty minutes, had no one chosen to follow
the route opened up by the calf.
Many years passed and the trail became
the main road of a village, and later the main avenue of a town.
Everyone complained about the traffic, because the route it took
was the worst possible one.
Meanwhile, the old and wise forest
laughed, at seeing how men tend to blindly follow the way already
open, without ever asking whether it really is the best choice.
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