Translation:Profession of Faith
Profession of Faith.
A father would be leaving the house for a moment. To test the intelligence of his children, he gave them the task to guess what he might be doing in his absence.
One of the children, who wore a blue coat, said:
— I know. Father is off to the tailor, to have a blue coat fitted for himself.
The second child, who liked to eat confectionary, got angry at Bluecoat, who would be so dumb as to believe that father wore a blue coat, as he did.
— I know better, it said. Father is eating sweet cookies with syrup.
The third child, who sat in a dark corner, pinched a cat in its tail, and cursed at Cookie-Eater, who was so dumb as to believe that father ate cookies as he did.
— I know better, it said. Father is slaughtering an ox.
The fourth child, being very quarrelsome, pulled Catpincher’s hairs out for being so dumb as to believe father was slaughtering an ox.
— I know better, it said. Father has gone to neighbour Pieterse, to beat him up.
The last child was nursing a thrush, which had broken its leg, and was so engaged in this that it neglected to think of the riddle.
When at last the father came home, it turned out that neither Bluecoat, nor Cookie-Eater, nor Catpincher, nor Hairpuller had guessed right. But the last child still hadn’t spoken.
— I truly don’t know, said little Thrushman. Look there, see it getting up, and looking at us with gratitude…
— Right, exclaimed the father… that’s what the widow I was visiting did!
None had guessed right. But little Thrushman was nearest to the truth, without having participated in the guessing. (See Ideas 101, 440.)