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May 26, 2010
The well by the road
I like this Chinese story which shows that It All Depends on How One Looks at Things.
"A man dug a well by the side of the road. For years afterwards, grateful travellers talked of the Wonderful Well. But one night, a man fell into it and drowned. After that, people avoided the Dreadful Well. Later it was discovered that the victim was a drunken thief who had left the road to avoid being cuptured by the night patrol - only to fall into the Justice- Dispensing Well."
Same well, different perceptions..
I thought about it today, looking at newspaper pictures of the Opening of Parliament and Her Maj resplendent under royal canopy, sitting on her gold throne in robes dripping with yet more gold.
The same old queen, but how many different views that image must have inspired, All Depending on Where You're Coming From. To name just a few: relic of a bygone era that should have no place in XXI century; reassuring symbol of continuity in an ever-changing and unstable world; ancient historical tradition that we can all be proud of; non-elected head of state who's only there by accident of birth, and should therefore be got rid of; tourist magnet; symbol of national unity; octogenerian head of a rather dysfunctional family; a wonderful monarch doing her job, etc etc.
But underneath all that gold encrusted pomp and ceremony, there is also just and old lady with hopes, fears and regrets, sometimes happy, sometimes not, remembering her youth and aware of her mortality.
And like the rest of us, bravely fighting a loosing battle..
Posted by Marzena at May 26, 2010 07:07 PM