“Let me tell you a fable, James," he
said, removing the pipe and pointing it in a gesture. “Fables
have been known to change the course of history, you know. You
should always pay close attention to fables and dreams,
Jim, they are the fabric that weaves the universe.
“This fable starts off like every other
really great fable: Once upon a time — there was a king who
ruled a larger than average kingdom. On the scale of one to ten,
his kingdom was a seven. But the king was not satisfied. He was
ruler of all he surveyed, yet he knew that beyond his horizon
there must be more, more realms to conquer, more kingdoms to
overthrow. One day a stranger arrived from a distant empire and
requested an audience with the king. The king, not familiar with
the land the stranger called home, was exhilarated by the
prospect of expanding his domain.
“He, therefore, decreed that the stranger
be brought before him shackled in irons. His soldiers found the
man, secured him in chains, and brought him to the king. The
king proceeded to torture the stranger, demanding that he reveal
which direction he had come from and how large an army protected
his city. Even after great torture, the stranger refused to
tell. Frustrated, the king had the stranger thrown to the lion's
den where he was torn asunder and devoured.
“Several months later an army marched
from the distant realm into the kingdom, and in the cover of
night overthrew the ambitious king. The king was led to the
chopping block for his treachery against the stranger whom he
had sent to the lions. ‘Just tell me one thing before you
kill me,’ begged the king as he was about to be beheaded. ‘How
did you know that I was here?’
“The conquering king answered, ‘It
is really very simple. I send out men bearing friendly greetings
in all different directions. If and when our men don't return –
we know that our enemies lie in that direction.’”
Max stopped and placed his pipe in his mouth.
I tried to figure out what he was getting at
and then gave up, “I don't get it. I'm afraid that I’m
just kind of slow.”
“Don’t feel bad. There's not really
a lot to get. It’s just that sometimes it’s not what
we don't know that gets us into trouble. It’s rather what
we don't know that we don't know. You see, the king knew that he
didn't know the location of the stranger’s kingdom, but
what the king didn't know was that his actions were revealing
his own location. If he had simply freed the man he would have
been better off. The king couldn't have known this, because he
didn't know that he didn't know. Sometimes there are no answers
to the questions because we don't know any of the right
questions,” Max said with a grin and then he asked, “Does
that mean anything to you?”
