The Weaver's Tale -3

A Folktale that Never Was

The Weaver and the Fisherman

There once was a young weaver who was wandering the world. His family and his teacher were slaughtered by an invading people. The people would have been welcomed into the weaver’s land, for it was a rich land, and many farmers and workers and sailors were needed by the city fathers, who were overflowing with generosity and good will - but the invaders never stopped to ask anything of anyone before they came, and so destroyed everything.

As the weaver wandered he met merchants and holy men and innkeepers, farmers, soldiers and women of the world, and would tell each of them this story and ask how people could be so stupid and shortsighted – how instead they chose to destroy the very workshops and farms and fleets that would have made them prosperous and happy.

Everyone told him his story was nothing, and then recited all the evils they had suffered or seen. Everyone had a story. But all the stories didn’t help the young weaver much at all, and often angered him the more; and so he wandered on.

One day he heard of a wise fisherman who lived in a hut above a mountain lake. Despite misgivings at meeting just another old man whom common folk supposed wise, the weaver went to him and told his story. Finally he asked,

“Why must people remain vain,

shortsighted, and arrogant?”

“You must come back tomorrow,” the fisherman began, “and I will tell you one reason…”

“And must I return the next day to learn the second reason?” added the young man, for he was familiar with this game of wisdom.

The fisherman smiled.

“…from these I will show you how to tie them together into another reason. And each day you can tie a new one, for there are as many reasons for mankind’s stupidity and shortsightedness as there are knots in my net.”

“So I see,” exclaimed the young man. “You have told me enough. For it has already been clear to me that self-indulgence is the first reason, and laziness – a form of self-indulgence – is the second. And from these two failings I can weave the entire net of human stupidity, short-sightedness, arrogance and all the rest.”

“So you came with your answer prepared, I see,” the fishman piped up. “Even so, you must come again tomorrow, as I said, to make sure you understand your answer.”

The weaver stared at the fisherman.

“Come BACK!? But I’ve already unraveled the knot ~~ I no longer have a problem!”

The fisherman smiled a sly grin. “And so? You have told me how my net is woven. Of what use is that to you? Go! A net is no use if you don’t know how and where to cast it!!”

“But you are not so wise, old man,” replied the youth, “for perhaps I don’t wish to use my net to catch fish in their folly. For this net may catch fish, but it also lets justice pass through it.

“We can catch fish, and we can be caught – but you see, I was looking for justice, which can not be caught in your net!”

The fisherman was smiling a broad smile now.

“You didn’t ask me for justice,” he grinned, slyly.

But the weaver only continued:

“….And perhaps it is I who am in the water – and want the net to keep the fools out! I know just where to cast this net – and YOU are on the other side!”

Suddenly he stopped and caught himself.

“And you?” he asked, suddenly feeling embarrassed, “If you are truly a fisherman, do you know how to catch men at their folly?”

The fisherman only winked, “I see that at least, you are not a rogue,” he said.

“And I would like to believe you are not one either,” said the young man. “So I will go back to weaving, like my old teacher… ….” But as he turned to go, he graciously added, “Like you, yourself.”

For the fisherman had never stopped mending his nets, and the weaver felt ashamed of himself. For even before he had come, he knew he would be matching wits, and in playing that game had succumbed to arrogance.

As he turned, the fisherman broke into a hearty laugh.

“I have certainly been caught in that net of his,” the young man thought. He was surprised to see the old man holding a long wooden pole, chortling and shaking it as if he had just hooked at big fish.

So indeed it had been a game.

The weaver bowed his head, took off his belt and put it in his mouth, leading himself up to the fisherman, whose glee only increased at seeing the weaver’s way of admitting defeat.

The old man jumped down from his step and embraced the young weaver.

“I hoped you would come back. You are no ordinary fish. Your teacher is very proud, now.”

Then the weaver spoke. “Only one line is necessary to catch a fish, and my own self-indulgence was enough to catch me.”

The fisherman smiled back. “We have both learned something, eh?”

“Something deep down tells us there is only one answer, and even I, who struggled for wisdom, attempted to prove I had it. I tried to prove to myself that I needn’t talk to you. But I became the answer to my very own question. I became arrogant. And in my arrogance I became as foolish and worthy of blame as whatever man killed my aunt. This is the origin of stupidity. What a strange sort of justice was served!”

The fisherman dug deep into his pocket and pulled out a pipe, which he struggled for several moments to light.

“I haven’t enjoyed myself so much for a long time,” he said.

“When you played me at the game of wise man I took you up at it, but began to feel foolish indeed. When I saw you had caught yourself, it was very amusing.”

The young weaver sat down, a bit uneasily. For by acting the know-it-all just that once, he had become arrogant - like the men he could not forgive. Understanding this, he had to forgive them all, yet was queasy about it, nevertheless.

“Yes,” said the fisherman,” “those the world often calls ‘wise’ look at the world around them as if it is the answer. They spend their lives exploring it with many challenges.”

“Yet those we might call ‘stupid’ are doing the very same thing. Every man and woman has the ultimate answer which they explore by letting the world challenge them. Even if they don’t succeed, they rarely have to change their answer for long. Only the way they word it will change. Their purpose is to find that their own life meets the challenge of nature…. That, what they know and who they are is good enough. Just like you acted a moment ago.”

The fisherman stopped a moment and shook his head sadly.

“Those who humbly seek after knowledge look for the challenges that answer their questions of life. Yet those who simply live take on the challenge every day. Most people –like children – MUST feel they have an answer to everything.”

At this, both the fisherman and the young weaver sat down on the old stone wall and paused. For it was a disturbing thought that we cannot stop arrogant behavior by learning anything. All of us will be the source of ignorant actions because we have the source of all answers within us. It is part of every spirit to have the answers, and we are bound – if ever so often (or all the time) to act that way.

They sat there many hours sharing a smoke and stories of what they’d seen and things they’d heard about, and what it all might mean. And of

course, this is one of those stories.