The other day, I wrote a blog entry that caused some degree of head scratching. Given my small readership, I won’t say it was a lot of head scratching, but percentage-wise, it was a pretty alarming amount.
It always bugs me when I’ve tried to explain something clearly and I’ve clearly failed. So, I tend to try, try again. Because, after all, after you’ve failed, the only thing possible is to improve, right? Well, that and fail to learn from your mistakes and repeat them. I guess there’s always that.
You can read the blog entry here. If it all makes sense to you, fine. If not, please continue.
Below is the conclusion to the ghost story, told a slightly different way, but the differences are completely meaningless. I’m just hoping that they make the point easier to grok.
***
The next morning, the man returned to the sage and, with some embarrassment, told him everything that the ghost had said.
“I do believe that the ghost follows you everywhere, even when you visit me,” said the sage, “and her attention to detail and her recall are extraordinary! But nevertheless, I do not think that I will have any trouble with her, and soon you will both have peace.”
The sage explained his plan. He would write a magic spell on the mans forehead that would drive away the ghost. If the ghost read it, she would be banished forever. The trick would be to make the ghost read it.
“But wait,” interjected the man. “She is undoubtedly here right now, watching us and listening to us. She will know about the spell, and she will know not to read it.”
The sage smiled and assured the man that the magic would work anyway, then, using a delicate brush, wrote the incantation on the mans forehead, and gave him a hat to wear.
“Don’t take off the hat until you see the ghost,” he warned the man. “We need to surprise her. If she tells you that the magic words are harmless to her, then she is probably only pretending to read them. Call her bluff and ask her to prove she knows what they say.”
That night, the ghost appeared again, and began her tirade. She told him that she had seen the incantation that the sage had written, and it had no power over her. His heart sank, but he resolved to try anyway.
“If the magic words have no effect on you, then please tell me what they are,” requested the man. “I cannot read them myself.”
But there was no answer. The room was empty and silent room. The ghost had vanished.
The man never saw the ghost again, although sometimes he thought he could still feel the spirit of his first wife, watching over him, at peace.
