The man went over to the boy and asked, "Can you please
tell me which road I should take to get to Happyville?"
The boy stopped playing and said, "You can take the
road to the left which is the long but short way; or you can take the road to
the right which is the short but long way."
The man became angry, "You speak in riddles, all I
asked was how to get to Happyville. What do you mean long but short, or short
but long?"
The boy went back to his guitar and explained once again,
"You can take the road to the left which is the long but short way, or you
can take the road to the right which is the short but long way."
By now the man was even angrier than before. "I cannot
stand your foolishness; I am going to take the road to the right which is short
but long."
The man started down the road to the right. When he went a
very short distance he came upon a river with the town of Happyville clearly on
the other side. The man looked all around but he could not find a way to cross
over the river.
His face turned red with anger. He then went back to the
fork in the road where the boy was still playing his guitar. The man yelled,
"You speak of long but short and short but long, but this road leads to a
river and there is no bridge!"
The boy stopped playing and said softly, "You took the
short but long road. If you would have taken the long but short road you would
have had to walk a little further but you would have come to a bridge which
crosses the river and leads right into Happyville."
Moral: We are all looking for Happyville and sometimes the
path seems so clear and easy. But watch out. . . the short road may really be
the long one and the road that looks a little more difficult may actually lead
you to happiness sooner.
(by Barry A. Kaufman, Child’s Way Magazine, May-June, 1971)
