A tale from the Phillipines
The parts of the house argue
High up in a nipa palm tree house, a large and quarrelsome family once lived. Not a day passed in the tree house without a disagreement of some kind. One day the family members began to quarrel about who was the most important member of the family. Soon the parts of the house began to argue about the same topic.
” I am the most important part, ” said one of the poles that held the house high off the ground. ” I was the first pole driven into the ground. All the rest of you came after me.” The other poles disagreed. ” Without us, ” one of them said , you wouldnt be able to hold the house off the ground. ” As the ples argued, the floor supports chimed in, ” No one would care about the poles if we werent here to hold you together.!” The cross supports called out, ” Without us you would all wobble and sag ! ” The floor rumbled, ” Without me, there’s no reason for the rest of you.” The bamboo walls rattled, ” We make the rooms, and without rooms, this wouldnt even be a house! ”
The roof beams and the ceiling and the palm leaf roof quarreled bitterly over which of them was the most important until, all at once, the many parts of the house realized that there was no way to win the arguement, for each aprt was equally important. With one great breath, the parts of the house sighed. ” None is important without the other,” and at that moment, the family members ceased quarreling as well. From that moment, the family lived together in peace.
