The fool tottered his way to the town square. There, those who claimed to see the guts and muscles of the world would speak of what they saw in their waking dreams. There he saw three such dreamers, talking to crowds.
He went to the first dreamer, to listen to what he had to say. “I see it all!” He proclaimed. “I have sorted all of this world into three drawers of a cabinet! First there is the red - the anger and the rage! Then there is the blue - the sorrow and the heartbreak! And then there is the green - the natural and loving!”
The fool approached him, hurling insults. “Liar! How dare you seek to fool these people when you are blind yourself? It is not red, but blood, that is anger! Not blue, but water, that is sorrow. And the natural and loving? Yellow, the sun!”
The dreaming man was furious. “Evil! From your tongue springs falsehood! Your tongue is tainted, for I am the furthest thing from blind! Every word you speak is an injustice against nature. Remove him from my sight!” And the furious crowd who had fallen in love with his words grasped the fool by his arms and legs and cast him out.
The fool then went to the second dreamer, to listen to what she had to say. “Good and evil.” She said. “This world is good and evil. To see this and to take up the cause of good is the purest form of good itself. All pain comes from evil. All relief comes from good. Follow me if you wish to purge evil from this earth!”
The fool approached her, matching her solemnity with mockery. “Is the dirt evil because it refuses to grow more food? Perhaps I should make it more righteous with a crusade! Curse the air for not filling our lungs fuller! Purify it with sword-blows! And curse our silly selves for not knowing what is best to do, for mistake is the greatest evil of all!”
The dreaming woman seethed. “You are an agent of evil, for you wish to confuse the do-gooders. I have nothing to say to you, and you have nothing of worth to say. Never again share your thoughts.” The crowd, obediently, pushed him out.
The fool went to the third dreamer, to listen to what he had to say. “Things are governed by love and strife.” He said. “Love attracts, and strife repels. There is love and strife between humans. There is love between all things and this earth, for we are drawn to it, as this stone is.” And he dropped the stone, which fell. “There is strife between these two rocks.” And he picked up two rocks, which refused to touch.
The fool approached him, sneering. “What petty little you have found. That some things wish to come together, and some things wish to go apart. Just now I have listened to two dreamers who have claimed to categorize this whole world, while you have been looking at your rocks and giving names to what is obvious to all.”
The dreaming man thought for a moment. “Perhaps. But I cannot reason about this whole world, for I have seen so little of it. I can speak of rocks. And I have seen nothing that does not obey the principle of love and strife. Perhaps there is more to be found, by thinking on it. I do not claim to know.”
The crowd was calm, though quietly impatient at the fool’s entrance. The fool sat and listened to the man, and learned much.