A Tale of the Dervishes

A Tale of the Dervishes

Once upon a time the Teacher of Moses called upon mankind with a warning. At a certain date, he said, all the water in the world which had not been specially hoarded, would disappear. It would then be renewed with different water, which would drive men mad.

Only one man listened to the meaning of his advice. He collected water, and went to a secure place where he stored it, and waited for the water to change its character.

On the appointed date the streams stopped running, the wells went dry, and the man who had listened, seeing this happening, went to his retreat, and drank his preserved water.

When he saw, from his security, the waterfalls again beginning to flow, this man descended among the other sons of man. He found that they were thinking and talking in an entirely different way from before; yet they had no memory of what had happened, nor of having been warned. When he tried to talk to them, he realized that they thought that he was mad, and they showed hostility or compassion, not understanding.

At first, he drank none of the new water, but went back to his concealment to draw on his supplies, every day. Finally, however, he took the decision to drink the new water because he could not bear the loneliness of living, behaving, and thinking in a different way from everyone else. He drank the new water, and became like the rest. Then he forgot all about his own store of special water, and his fellows began to look upon him as a madman who had miraculously been restored to sanity.

Dear reader, are you like the man who collected his water, or like the other sons of man? Please examine yourself… If you were in the case of that man, would you also choose to become mad like the rest of the people? If you have drunk of the water that makes people mad, would you like to find the fresh water and drink it? Please examine yourself…