My Virtual Reading Room

(duathir and tigerbright--thought you might like this one, it is somewhat along the lines of the one I posted earlier, don't you think?)

The Educated Fool
by the Preacher of Dubno (Dubner Maggid)

The king of a great country had an only son, but as he was a fool, his father took the matter gravely to heart.

"What would happen were I to die?" he thought in dismay. "How can I possibly leave my kingdom in the hands of such a schlemihl and ignoramus?"

So he called a council of his minsters and they thrashed the matter out. They advised him to send his heir to a certain university in a foreign land. From the great savants who taught there, they were sure, he would acquire a little wisdom and learning.

The king took their advice and sent his son to study in that university. At parting he said to him:
"Be sure, my son, not to come back until you're an educated man."

Several years passed. The king's son studied hard. At last, he grew tired of learning so much, and he wrote to his father one letter after another, imploring:

"Dear Father, I have already learned everything there is to be learned. As there is no further wisdom for me to acquire, I beg you to let me come home."

After several such letters, the king became convinced that it was high time to call his heir home. So he sent several of his ministers to fetch him.

The king was overjoyed at their reunion, and he ordered that a feast be prepared in honor of his son who had come back to him a mature and learned man. To the feast he invited all his ministers, nobles, and generals. When they were all high in their cups, one of the ministers wished to inquire into the prince's newly acquired wisdom.

"Do tell us," he asked, "what did you learn at the university?"

The prince replied, "I studied algebra, geometry, astronomy, and mathematics."

Unnoticed, his questioner took a ring off his finger and held it in his clenched fist.

"Guess what I hold in my hand," he asked.

The prince regarded his fist sagely and answered, "I should judge, according to the sciences I have studied, that the object you hold in your hand is round and has a hole in the center."

The minister was filled with amazement. The prince really has become a sage!

"Now, Your Highness, will you be good enough to name this object?" he asked.

"According to the sciences I have studied," replied the prince, "I cannot name it, but my own common sense tells me that it must be a cart wheel."


MORAL: You can educate a fool but you can't make him think.

(from the "Nudinks, Phudniks, and Trombeniks" chapter of "A Treasury of Jewish Humor", edited by Nathan Ausubel, 1951)