Five Fools

One hot summer day one man was crossing the bridge over the river. Looking down, in the very midst of the river, where the water was shallow, he could see another man standing motionless, except for his head that was tirelessly moving left and right.
“O sir,” addressed the man from the bridge to the one in the water “what are you doing there, in the river, and why and for how long do you devote yourself to such an occupation?”
“O, you interrupted me by such an idle question. But since you ask, I should reply to you: I’m thinking. Whence in the morning I got into this stream to get myself refreshed, I swam and swam – and reached the river’s very middle – that shallow place where I do stay till now. And then, when I was resting with my feet touching the yellow river sand, a troubling thought came to my mind, depriving me of peace: “Since I am in the middle of the river and the distance is equal to each bank, where should I head to: the right one or the left? There is no apparent difference, but since by wrong decision we cause the Heavens to turn away from us – each factor should be weighed with precision until the right decision will come up.” This is the reason I’m standing here-thinking-my body with no motion, nor my mind.”
Having heard such an explanation, the man who was on the bridge became gradually overwhelmed by unrestrained laughter. And finally his laughter became so intense, that he lost his balance and fell from the bridge into the rapids.
Despite fighting the strong current, he anyway started to drown. And all his calls for help were in vain as the other man, standing in the shallow water so close to him, was so totally absorbed in thought that he paid no attention to his desperate shouts.
At that moment a young woman was walking on the river bank. Having noticed that something unusual was going on in the water, she tried to figure out what it was. But as the bank was steep and clayey, she slipped and ended up in the water as well.
Meanwhile a school teacher was riding his bicycle on the road along the river. As he was a wise man, he instantly understood what was taking place. He left his bicycle on the road, went down carefully to the water, and uttered: “O people! All of you have fallen victims to your own vices. Your vice,” he said addressing the standing man “is indecisiveness. You suffer from your own arrogance,” he reported to the drowning man. “And you,” he proclaimed to the young woman, “are curious to such a great extent.”
And having said so, he was about to continue on his way, when he discovered that his bicycle was gone. It was a thief who had stolen it in the meantime.

One hot summer day one man was crossing the bridge over the river. Looking down, in the very midst of the river, where the water was shallow, he could see another man standing motionless, except for his head that was tirelessly moving left and right.“O sir,” addressed the man from the bridge to the one in the water “what are you doing there, in the river, and why and for how long do you devote yourself to such an occupation?”“O, you interrupted me by such an idle question. But since you ask, I should reply to you: I’m thinking. Whence in the morning I got into this stream to get myself refreshed, I swam and swam – and reached the river’s very middle – that shallow place where I do stay till now. And then, when I was resting with my feet touching the yellow river sand, a troubling thought came to my mind, depriving me of peace: “Since I am in the middle of the river and the distance is equal to each bank, where should I head to: the right one or the left? There is no apparent difference, but since by wrong decision we cause the Heavens to turn away from us – each factor should be weighed with precision until the right decision will come up.” This is the reason I’m standing here-thinking-my body with no motion, nor my mind.”Having heard such an explanation, the man who was on the bridge became gradually overwhelmed by unrestrained laughter. And finally his laughter became so intense, that he lost his balance and fell from the bridge into the rapids.Despite fighting the strong current, he anyway started to drown. And all his calls for help were in vain as the other man, standing in the shallow water so close to him, was so totally absorbed in thought that he paid no attention to his desperate shouts.At that moment a young woman was walking on the river bank. Having noticed that something unusual was going on in the water, she tried to figure out what it was. But as the bank was steep and clayey, she slipped and ended up in the water as well.Meanwhile a school teacher was riding his bicycle on the road along the river. As he was a wise man, he instantly understood what was taking place. He left his bicycle on the road, went down carefully to the water, and uttered: “O people! All of you have fallen victims to your own vices. Your vice,” he said addressing the standing man “is indecisiveness. You suffer from your own arrogance,” he reported to the drowning man. “And you,” he proclaimed to the young woman, “are curious to such a great extent.”And having said so, he was about to continue on his way, when he discovered that his bicycle was gone. It was a thief who had stolen it in the meantime.