A man had a horse as a friend. They were inseparable companions from childhood. They went everywhere together, helping each other through difficult times and celebrating their successes together.
One day, the man shared his laments with the horse: “I can no longer tolerate my current way of life. All my relatives and friends have glasses and see life differently than how I do. It is as if they cannot predict the changes that await us in the future. Even worse, they do not see the dangers and pitfalls that threaten them on their immediate paths. I am very worried. When I try to talk to them, they rebuke me, accusing me of senselessly causing panic only to show how self-important I am. They think the reason for my behavior is because I am without glasses.”
The horse nodded sagely and answered, “I remember when you were little and wanted to see the rainbow, but your glasses allowed you to see only red and brown. Then, I thought I could help you, and I trod on your glasses. You cried a lot, for a while, but after some time you began to see the world with your own eyes. The problem is that you do not want to wear glasses, but your friends are afraid to use their own eyes to see the world as it is. There are two ways out of this situation: for you to put the glasses back on, or for us to begin journeying around the world and to see how other people live.”
The man pondered over this, and then said, “Let’s go south. Maybe there are other people there who see more, and more clearly?”
“Let’s go,” said the horse, and the two friends headed south.
After many days and nights, they reached a far, southern land. After settling in a small town, they began to try to integrate themselves into the local community there.
Straight away the man realized that he was white and, accordingly, had to be in the company of the white representatives of this society, or to choose to accompany the black representatives and to referred to as ‘white trash’. The man could not understand why the people divided themselves according to colour and why they could not talk together and discuss their common problems. These people also had glasses, but theirs only allowed them to see in black and white. The man tried to talk to those he made friends with. The people told him that what he saw without glasses was unrealistic and that he should wear glasses and that enough was enough.
The man thought deeply about the similarities and differences between these two societies, thousands of miles apart. The contrasts were clear: the two societies saw different colours through their glasses. What was striking, however, was the likelihood that both societies lacked a sense of self-preservation and the ability to anticipate future changes to come. People lived day by day, and if something bad happened, they blamed the blacks, the whites, the rain, the snow, the thunderstorms, the drought, and the Prime Minister. They even selected as Prime Minister a man who promised to get rid of the mountains and the thunder bolts.
“I don’t feel comfortable being here either,” the man confessed to the horse.
“We can try looking to the West,” the horse suggested. “There is a land of great opportunities and achievements. Maybe you will find your fortunes there?”
The man, filled with hope, quickly gathered his luggage for the trip. After many upheavals, they reached the wondrous land. At the Customs Office, they were very well scrutinized and then permitted to stay in the country for thirty days, after which they had to leave.
The horse felt worried: “We might not be able to stay here,” he confided in his friend. “These people are very strict. Did you see the automatic rifles they had at the border? And what military trucks… I think this is probably not the place for us either.”
“Don’t be scared, my friend,” he replied soothingly. “Let us see how the people here live.”
They settled themselves in a small motel and decided they would walk around town. The receptionist warned them not to carry bags; not to speak, so that the locals would not presume that they were foreigners; not to look people in the eyes, especially if it is obvious that these people are under the influence of drugs; and so on.
“I’m staying in the motel!”, announced the horse. “This is too much for my nerves!”
“Alright. I’ll go alone,” said the man. “You rest up. Tomorrow is another day.”
The man took to the main street. There was not a single person, nor horse, nor dog. “What’s going on in this city?”, the man wondered. “Why is there no-one on the street?”
The man entered a bistro. There were only three clients here. He sat down at a table and ordered a coffee and a sandwich. The good waitress brought him the order without delay.
“Where are the people?”, the man queried.
“At work or at home. This neighborhood is dangerous and no one walks the streets anymore”, the waitress answered.
The man wandered the neighbourhood. He found himself on a street where, for over a distance of two kilometers, shops on both sides were burnt and looted. He went into a café to buy mineral water and was informed that this street was the border between two neighborhoods with people of different ethnic backgrounds and that such fires occurred once every three to four years. The man observed the people around him and he realised that they also had glasses. These glasses were rather more peculiar. Three colours were visible through them: white, red and blue, and the glasses made anything viewed seem so much larger than life.
In the days that followed, the man and the horse explored this great land and discovered that the country was great only because it was viewed through the locals’ glasses as such. The man became aware that the blindness to colours and to forseeing future changes was the same as that of the people of the north and the south, but that the local people were not blind to the dangers (and even saw dangers that the man himself could not see), and everyone carried a weapon of self-defense on their person.
After a very brief discussion, the man and the horse decided to leave the West.
The man asked, “Now where?”
“East!”, exclaimed the horse.
They departed towards the East. After a long while, they reached a country where they met different people with differently-coloured glasses: white, black, yellow, spotted, striped, binocular-like, microscope-like… the problem was the same. People had limited colour vision and lacked self-preservation instincts and the foresight to plan for the dangers ahead and the changes that awaited them.
The man despaired, pleading to the horse, “I want to go to a place where people are without glasses!”
“Well,” said the horse, “I know of such a country, but it is at the centre of the world.”
“Centre or not, we’re going!”, the man decided.
After many vaccinations and permits, the man and the horse reached the centre of the world. They settled there and lived happily. The people there wore no glasses.
Three years passed, and by then the man had recognised that the inhabitants of the central land wore contact lenses, but the characteristics and properties of their colour filters were a very well-guarded state secret.
The man and the horse still live in the central land given the absence of other good options, but they have built for themselves a spacecraft.
Written on 03.11.2019