The Flea and the Illness
Once upon a time, far beyond the greenest valleys, in the heart of a magnificent kingdom, two strange travellers met. One was a tiny, restless Flea; the other was a cunning Sickness that settled into the joints of men. Neither of them was content with the houses that sheltered them through the night, so they began to pour out their troubles. Beneath the silvery glimmer of the moonlight, they complained about the ways of the people they lodged with. In the end, pitying their own condition, they made an unthinkable decision in order to change their fate. The Flea drew a deep breath and began to speak in a sorrowful voice. "I stay in the silken bed of a wealthy gentleman, but the man is forever calling his servants to hunt me down," he said.
"From playing chase all night long, I have not found a single sip of peace," he added. The Sickness, for its part, looked at the Flea with plaintive eyes and told of its own misfortune. "And I am in the body of a poor woodcutter, but the man chops wood with his axe from morning until evening," it said. "Because he never stops moving, the ache of my bones leaves me no strength at all," it lamented. At this the clever Flea, its eyes shining, made a cunning proposal. "Then let us change places tonight; you go to my rich man, and I will go to your woodcutter," he said. The Sickness found the idea most tempting, and the two agreed at once and set out on their way.
When night fell, the Flea slipped secretly into the humble hut of the poor woodcutter. The woodcutter, who had worked all day, had fallen into such a deep sleep that the Flea fed at its ease until morning. The Sickness, meanwhile, settled into the body of the rich gentleman, who lay in a soft bed of down. The longer the gentleman writhed in pain and lay without the slightest movement, the more gladly the Sickness took root. When the sun rose, both travellers realised that they had spent the most comfortable night of their lives. In the face of such a flawless harmony, they resolved never to return to their old places again. Every creature comes to peace and comfort only when it finds the conditions that suit it. Everything carries its full weight in its own place.