Today's parable was inspired by a story I read by a dear friend, Sarah Goodwoman. It's a story of betrayal, revenge, and ultimately, healing. You may read it --> here <--

How Brother Mole Lost His Sight
(c) 2017 Haylee V

Many moons ago, when the Earth was still new, and the Great Spirit still walked among His creation, there lived a rather rambunctious mole. Brother Mole was well known among the other animals for playing tricks, most of which, though annoying or embarrassing, proved harmless.

One day, the animals were talking together about Brother Mole's tricks, when the Great Spirit, unseen by them all, overheard their complaints.

"He stole my honey!" said Brother Bear, "and replaced it with mud from the swamp. It took nearly two days to get the taste of that filth out of my mouth. I nearly drank Lake Eerie dry!"

"He swapped my eggs with Sister Crocodile's,", said Sister Goose. "The hatchlings nearly snipped all my tail feathers off!"

"He put a termite's nest on my dam," cried Cousin Beaver. "Took me two months to rebuild."

"Something must be done about his pranks!" they all cried out, "before he really hurts someone."

The Great Spirit chuckled at these pranks. After all, they WERE harmless -- for the most part -- but He also took their complaints and concerns under advisement.

A few days later, Brother Mole was feeling frisky, and decided to play a trick on Old Man Cougar. Now Old Man Cougar was a skilled hunter, but his eyesight was beginning to fail due to his advanced age, and he was also becoming forgetful. He had retreated to his cave, where he had two nice salmon roasting over his cooking spit.

"Greetings, Brother Cougar," he called out. "It is I, Brother Mole. You invited me for dinner, remember?"

"I did? I don't remember."

"Yes. You said that since you had two nice fresh fish, that I could join you. Are they done?"

"I think so, but I can't really see well enough to take them off my spit. Can you hand me my glasses beside the fire?"

Mole just couldn't resist the opportunity. He grabbed a glowing ember from the fire, being careful not to burn himself. He knew that Cougar's thick shin wouldn't register the heat until it was too late, and he jumped at the chance to have a little fun.

Cougar grabbed for the ember, placing it in his good eye, thinking it was his glasses. Immediately, he heard a sizzling sound and felt the searing pain as he slowly realized what had happened.

"How could you?" he roared. "You have blinded me, after I offered you my hospitality. I wish the Great Spirit would blind you as you've blinded me!"

"It is so done!" a voice boomed, as Mole's world quickly faded to darkness.

Moral:

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

Pranks have a way of backfiring, and often, so does revenge.
Be careful when you wish evil on others, because in the end, you will lose as well.

* EDIT: *

Although this moral has been attributed to Mohandas Gandhi, there is no OFFICIAL record of him actually speaking the line, according to The Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence. Louis Fischer, in his biography of Gandhi, DID, however use the phrase in referring to Gandhi's philosophy of passive resistance. The phrase is a twist on the biblical verse found in Exodus 21:24. Reference to the longer phrase ("An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth makes the world blind and toothless") is documented in a 1914 transcript from the Canadian House of Parliament, where a Mr. Graham is arguing in opposition of the death penalty. This is the earliest documented use of the phrase I can find.

Check out the full story HERE. - Haylee V, 12-Jun-2017