In Reply to: A comment posted by MHK on July 27, 2006 at 21:18:14:

The rope, the ass, and the dive instructor - a modern fable

One day young Ernest was trying to get a rope through a hole in a board. He tried for hours. He pushed and poked. He squeezed and twisted, but the rope would not cooperate.

Later he was complaining to his brother Stuart that the rope was being an ass.
"You think that the rope was an ass" said Stuart "the donkey was being an ass too." Ernest scowled. "I tried all morning to push that beast through his stall door" he continued "but it was so stubborn, I had to quit."

Then they both went to the sea and came upon a mentor in the art of underwater breathing. He was frustrated that the community of underwater breathers were not heeding his sagely advice. They quarreled for a few moments over who had the greater burden when there was a tumultuous sound. The water near them frothed and boiled. A pillar of steam rose to coalesce into a female form.

The form spoke masterful feminine voice.

"I am Tethy the siren of the sea." The voice rang like a ships bell and thundered like fog warning horns "In the art of persuasion, it truly must be, that pushing is folly and leading is easy." She then vanished into a wisp of fog.

The three were so taken by the Siren that the all vowed to remember her prose.

Ernest pulled the rope through the hole.

Stuart Led the donkey into the stable.

The SCUBA instructor got really mad. Tried to push harder. Eventually gave up. Then let his wounds fester until he became obsessed with being right. He returned to the sea to find Tethy and have the last word.

The moral is...

(Moral to be supplied by you diver.net citizens. Please post)

• "Where Ignorance is Bliss, 'tis Folly to be Wise". ..(nt) Kevrumbo 12:40:00 07/28/06 (0)