18
PARABLES
truck, to replace the horse, and a small tractor. The son of the first neighbor
was considered enterprising. The entrepreneur determined that in the com-
ing year the price of garlic was going to rise sharply. He wasn’t wrong. He
pulled out all the plantings from his land and sowed a field with garlic.
Since they had given their word, the father and mother tried to help their
son in everything. The family sold the garlic at a large profit. They began to
build a huge house of modern materials with a hired crew. Still, the son-en-
trepreneur would not let up and calculated from morning until night what
would be most profitable to plant in the field come spring. By winter’s end
he had determined that most profitable of all would be to sow the field in
onions. Once again he sold his crop profitably, bought himself a car, and
thought himself elegant.
One day, the sons of the two neighbors met on the road through the
fields. One drove a car, the other a wagon harnessed to a frisky mare. The
successful entrepreneur stopped his car, and a conversation took place
between the two neighbors.
“Look, neighbor, I’m driving an elegant car, and you’re still getting
around in a cart. I’m building a big house, and you’re living in your father’s
old one. Our fathers and mothers were always friends, and I too want to give
you neighborly help. If you want, I’ll suggest what’s most profitable to sow
your field with.”
“Thank you for your desire to be helpful,” the second neighbor answered
from his cart, “but I treasure only freedom for my thoughts.”
“Then I will not encroach upon the freedom of your thoughts. I only sin-
cerely want to help you.”
“Thank you for your sincerity, too, good neighbor. The inanimate—the
car you’re sitting in, for instance—takes away from freedom of thought.”
“How can a car take that away? It can easily overtake your wagon, and
while you’re still riding to town, I can accomplish my business, all thanks to
my car.”
“Yes, your car can overtake my wagon, of course, but at the same time
you are sitting behind the wheel and forced to hold on continuously, and
you are constantly fiddling with switches as you go, looking at the instru-
