One of the fables Bill kept pinned to his homepage — the family's copy, as it was kept.
It was six blind men of Indostan
To learning much inclined
Who went to see the elephant
Though all of them were blind
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind.The First approached the elephant
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side
At once began to bawl,
“God bless me! But the elephant
Is nothing but a wall!”The Second, feeling of the tusk
Cried, “Ho! What have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ‘tis mighty clear
This wonder of an elephant
Is very like a spear!”The Third approached the animal
and happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands.
Thus boldly up he spake,
“I see,” quote he, “the elephant
Is very like a snake!”The Fourth reached out his eager hand
And felt about the knee
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain, “quote he.
“’Tis clear enough the elephant
Is very like a tree!”The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear
Said, “E’en the blindest man
Can tell this resembles most.
Deny the fact can,
This marvel of an elephant
Is very like a fan!”The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see, “quote he, “the elephant
Is very like a rope!”And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceedingly stiff and strong
Though each was partly in the right,
All of them were wrong!So oft in theological wars
All the disputants, I ween
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean…
And prate about an elephant
Not one of them has seen!
— John Godfry Saxe