Origin: Unknown

Author: Unknown

At the beginning of time, Truth walked naked upon the earth. His body was strong and muscular. His skin was smooth and shining. He was beautiful.

Whenever he walked into a village, he would call out, “I am Truth! Come gather around and listen to what I have to teach you.” But no one would come and no one would gather around him. Their parents would take them away, though, covering their eyes. Curious young women first stared, then turned away. Young men were envious. Old old women sighed, and old men were remorseful. All turned away.

No one would stay and listen to Truth. He traveled from village to village, and it was the same everywhere he went.

One day he came to the place where his sister, Story, lived. Her home was a large white house with a wide porch that wrapped around it. There were beautiful trees, ferns, and flower gardens surrounding the house. On the porch were white wicker rockers with flowered cushions and wicker wings hanging from the porch roof. There were lace curtains in the windows and the sunlight streaming through made rainbows on the carpets inside. Story was sitting in one of the rockers. She was wearing a flowing silk gown that shimmered with iridescent colors. She had ribbons entwined in her long golden curls, jewels on her fingers, and sparkling silver shoes. She saw her brother coming down the road and could see that he looked very depressed.

Story ran out to her brother and asked, “What is the mater? Why do you look so sad? What may I do to help?”

“Oh, Story, I have traveled from village to village to share what I know, but everyone turns away from me. It is the same wherever I go. I don’t understand it. I have so many things to tell, why won’t people listen?”

“Ah,” said Story, “Come inside for I can help you.”

Story took her brother into her bedroom and opened closets, chests of drawers and trunks filled with colorful clothes and finery. She told Truth to dress himself up. “Oh, I couldn’t do that, I would look silly.” Story insisted, and so Truth began to dress up. He put on a white silk shirt with billowing sleeves, purple velvet knickers, shiny shoes with a silver buckle, and a quilted vest with jewels. He put rings on his fingers and a hat with a long curling feather on it. He was finished. Story added a flower in his lapel, a silk cape, and a long flowing scarf. Now he was ready. She told him to return to the villages and see what would happen.

A year later, Truth returned to his sister’s house. Story saw him coming down the road smiling. “Truth, you look so happy, quick tell me what happened.”

“Story, it was wonderful. Everywhere I went, people listened to me. They would gather around and sit for hours while I talked. But what I don’t understand is that I wasn’t telling them anything different from before. Why was it that they listened this time?”

“Ah, Truth, don’t you understand? No one wants to hear the naked truth, but they will listen when it is clothed in story.”