A blind man and his friend were crossing a desert. They were going on different journeys but they must have met on the way and the other man must have asked the blind man to join him. They were together for some days and their friendship deepened over that time. One morning the blind man got up earlier than his friend and felt around for his stick. It was a desert night and it was very cold, it was winter time. He did not find the stick, but there was a snake which had stiffened because of the cold so the blind man picked it UP and thanked God saying, “I had lost my stick but now you have given me a better, a smoother stick.” He thanked God and said, “You are very compassionate.”
Then he poked his friend with this stick to wake him, saying, “Get up, it’s morning.”
When the friend got up and saw the snake, he became afraid and said, “What is that you are holding in your hand? Drop it immediately! It is a snake, it is dangerous!”
The blind man replied, “Friend, in a fit of jealousy you are calling my beautiful stick a snake. You want me to throw it away so that you can take it – I may be blind, but I’m not stupid.”
His friend replied, “Are you mad? Have you gone mad? Throw it away immediately! It is a snake and it is dangerous!”
But the blind man said, “You have stayed with me for so many days and you still haven’t understood how smart I am.
I had lost my stick and now the Almighty has given me a more beautiful stick, and you are just trying to fool me by
calling it a snake.”
The blind man, in his anger, thought that his friend was jealous and envious, and so he started off on his own. After a little while the sun came up and the snake warmed up and came back to life. It was no longer cold and it bit the blind man
