Bir Doğu hikayesi /An eastern fable

Çölde seyahat eden bir seyyah, yırtıcı bir hayvanın şerrinden kurtulmak için, kendini, yakınında bulunan bir kuyuya atar. Kuyunun içine düşerken can havliyle bir dala yapışır. Yukarda yırtıcı hayvanın dehşetinden korkarak aşağı inmek ister ancak kuyunun dibinde bir ejderha ağzını açmış avını beklemektedir. Yapacağı bir şey olmadığı için var gücüyle çalılara yapışmaktadır. Ancak bir de ne görsün, beyaz ve siyah iki fare bu çalıları kemirmektedir. Bu acayip hal içinde iken her nasılsa çalıların üzerine bulaşmış bal damlalarını yalayıp bir kaç dakikalık da olsa zevk almaya çalışmakta, o korkunç hali görmezden gelmektedir...

There is an Eastern fable, told long ago, of a traveller overtaken on a plain by an enraged beast. Escaping from

the beast he gets into a dry well, but sees at the bottom of the well a dragon that has opened its jaws to

swallow him. And the unfortunate man, not daring to climb out lest he should be destroyed by the enraged

beast, and not daring to leap to the bottom of the well lest he should be eaten by the dragon, seizes s twig

growing in a crack in the well and clings to it. His hands are growing weaker and he feels he will soon have to

resign himself to the destruction that awaits him above or below, but still he clings on. Then he sees that two

mice, a black one and a white one, go regularly round and round the stem of the twig to which he is clinging

and gnaw at it. And soon the twig itself will snap and he will fall into the dragon's jaws. The traveller sees this

and knows that he will inevitably perish; but while still hanging he looks around, sees some drops of honey on

the leaves of the twig, reaches them with his tongue and licks them. So I too clung to the twig of life, knowing

that the dragon of death was inevitably awaiting me, ready to tear me to pieces; and I could not understand

why I had fallen into such torment. I tried to lick the honey which formerly consoled me, but the honey no

longer gave me pleasure, and the white and black mice of day and night gnawed at the branch by which I

hung. I saw the dragon clearly and the honey no longer tasted sweet. I only saw the unescapable dragon and

the mice, and I could not tear my gaze from them. and this is not a fable but the real unanswerable truth

intelligible to all.

Source: anonymous