The Traveller and the Raven
Once upon a time, a young merchant lived at the edge of an old forest where cool waters flowed. This merchant was walking excitedly toward the colorful market of the neighboring town with a heavy load on his back. His aim was to reach the town before sunset, sell his goods and return to his home. As his road passed among the dense trees, the wind suddenly stopped and a deep silence fell. At that very moment a strange sound rising from a high oak branch rang through the forest. The young merchant paused in fright and lifted his head to look at the top of the tree. On the highest branch of the tree stood a black raven whose one eye was blind.
The raven looked at the merchant and kept croaking in a gloomy and insistent way. “This bird is surely announcing a great disaster to me!” cried the merchant. Seized by the fear of bad luck, the young man sank down at the roadside, afraid to take a step. Just then an experienced and wise traveler passing along the same road came up to him. “Why have you sat down on the ground so helplessly, my friend?” asked the wise traveler. The merchant told what had happened, pointing with a trembling finger at the one-eyed raven on the branch. “The voice of this bird says that my road will be unlucky, I cannot go on,” he said.
The wise traveler looked first at the bird in the tree, then at the young man trembling with fear, and smiled. “It seems that you have become the prisoner of empty delusions,” said the wise man in a calm voice. “Look well at that bird on the branch, it could not even protect its own eye from the hunter's arrow,” he added. “How can a bird that cannot see the danger coming to itself know your fate?” he said. When the merchant heard these reasonable words, the clouds of fear covering his mind suddenly scattered. He understood that what he thought was bad luck was only his own delusion, and he stood up. Thanking the old traveler, he safely took the road to the town together with him. The empty prophecies of those who cannot see their own future cannot turn brave people who walk in the light of reason from their path. Reason has but one road.