Truth
and Falsehood
Excerpt from
The Book of Virtues by William J. Bennett, Editor
As
the folktale from Greece points out, the virtuous soul not only
loves the truth for its own sake, it loathes the actions of
falsehood. Deceit is far more painful for that soul than bearing
the hardships that sometimes accompany honesty.
Once
upon a time Truth and Falsehood met each other on the road.
"Good afternoon,” said Truth.
“Good afternoon,” returned Falsehood. “And
how are you doing these days?”
“Not very well at all, I’m afraid,” sighed
Truth. “The times are tough for a fellow like me, you
know.”
“Yes, I can see that,” said Falsehood, glancing
up and down at Truth’s ragged clothes. “You look
like you haven’t had a bite to eat in quite some time.”
“To be honest, I haven’t,” admitted Truth.
“No one seems to want to employ me nowadays. Wherever
I go, most people ignore me or mock me. It’s getting discouraging,
I can tell you. I’m beginning to ask myself why I put
up with it.”
“And why the devil do you? Come with me, and I’ll
show you how to get along. There’s no reason in the world
why you can’t stuff yourself with as much as want to eat,
like me, and dress in the finest clothes, like me. But you must
promise not to say a word against me while we’re together.”
So Truth promised and agreed to go along with Falsehood for
a while, not because he liked his company so much, but because
he was so hungry he thought he’d faint soon if her didn’t
get something into his stomach. They walked down the road until
they came to a city, and Falsehood at once led the way to the
very best table at the very best restaurant.
“Waiter, bring us your choicest meats, your sweetest sweets,
your finest wine!” he called, and they ate and drank all
afternoon. At last, when they could hold no more, Falsehood
began banging his fist on the table and calling for the manager,
who came running at once.
“What the devil kind of place is this?” Falsehood
snapped. “I gave that waiter a gold piece nearly an hours
ago, and he still hasn’t brought our change.”
The manager summoned the waiter, who said he’d never even
seen a penny out of the gentleman.
“What?” Falsehood shouted, so that everyone in the
place turned and looked. “I can’t believe this place!
Innocent, law-abiding citizens come in to eat, and you rob them
of their hard-earned money! You’re a pack of thieves and
liars! You may have fooled me once, but you’ll never see
me again! Here!” He threw a gold piece at the manager.
“Now this time bring me my change!”
But the manager, fearing his restaurant’s reputation would
suffer, refused to take the gold piece, and instead brought
Falsehood change for the first gold piece that he claimed to
have spent. Then he took the waiter aside and called him a scoundrel,
and said he had a mind to fire him. And as much as the waiter
protested that he’d never collected a cent from the man,
the manager refused to believe him.
“Oh Truth, where have you hidden yourself?” the
waiter sighed. “Have you now deserted even us hard-working
souls?”
“No, I’m here,” Truth groaned to himself,
“but my judgment gave way to my hunger, and now I can’t
speak up without breaking my promise to Falsehood.”
As soon as they were on the street, Falsehood gave a hearty
laugh and slapped Truth on the back. “You see how the
world works?” he cried. “I managed it all quite
well, don’t you think?”
But Truth slipped from his side.
“I’d rather starve than live as you do,” he
said.
And so Truth and Falsehood went their separate ways, and never
traveled together again.
