ࡱ> 130 @ 0'bjbj00 :RR' @@@@@@@T\\\\ hTs $) R{  @ @@- @@@@| @f0s\ C 0s   TT@@@@ @,  TT TT An Apple from the Tree of Knowledge By Benzion D. Yehoshua Related by Rafael Yehoshua-Raz Translated by Jonathan Spector Luck and Brains Luck and Brains were arguing. Brains said: -- "I'm more important than luck". Luck retorted: --"No! I'm more important than you are and I'll show you my strength". The two descended to earth and took a rag collector's brain. -- "Now" -- said Brains "Please try your power". Luck prepared a leather purse full of gold crowns for the rag collector and the two waited to see what would happen. The rag collector went home and threw the leather purse on the pile of rags without even opening it. The cat smelled the leather purse and thought, innocently enough, that he had a chance to find a good piece of meat. What did he do? He dragged the purse to the attic Luck's first attempt had failed. Luck tried a second time and prepared another leather purse bursting with gold crowns. But again this time the rag collector took the leather purse and tossed it into the heap of rags. Not an hour passed and the rag dealer came to the rag collector's house and bought the whole pile of rags with the leather purse in it. Brains said to Luck: -- "My friend, in the future know to take care what you say and not to brag. If the rag collector had had brains in his head, he would have wondered what was in the leather purse, taken the great treasure and put it to good use. Give the rag collector another gold purse, but this time I'll put brains in his head. Then we'll see what happens". Mournful and ashamed of his failure, Luck agreed to Brains's proposal. When the rag collector found the third purse, his brains were in place. This time he opened his eyes wide and looked all around for fear that someone was watching him, but when he realized that nobody was there, he slowly opened the purse and looked inside. When he saw the treasure he hid it, not telling anyone his secret. Later the rag collector approached his wife: -- "Hey, Woman, a number of days ago I brought a leather purse home, where is it?" -- "I'm sure we sold it to the rag dealer" the frightened wife answered. The rag collector went to the dealer and asked him if he could buy back all the rags he had previously sold him. -- "Why would you want to do that?" asked the dealer. The rag collector smoothly fibbed to the dealer and cunningly bought the rags for next to nothing. The rag collector went home and checked his rags one by one until finally he found the leather purse with the gold crowns in it. Later he returned the rags to the dealer and with shrewd trickery got his money back. Now he suddenly remembered the purse that he had found a few weeks before. He looked for it in every nook and cranny of the house until he reached the attic and found it covered in dust. Overnight the rag collector had become one of the wealthiest men in town. Brains said: -- "Did you see that? Without the brains I gave him the rag collector would have remained poor all his life". Luck answered: -- "You are correct, my friend. But had I not prepared him the gold purses what good was his brain?" &=|}&'h$hS056\] hS05\hS05CJ\aJhS05CJ \aJ hS0&=\{|}2 p % =N$dA$`a$gdS0 $dA$a$gdS0 $A$a$gdS0 $dhA$a$gdS0 $A$a$gdS0$A$gdS0'N06'$dA$`a$gdS0 $dA$a$gdS081h:p$. A!"#$% (2*2N`N S0Normal$A$CJ_H aJmH sH tH DA@D Default Paragraph FontRi@R  Table Normal4 l4a (k@(No List' &=\{|}2p%=N0 6 ) @08@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@00&=\{|}2p%=N0 6 ) @0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0@0 "' N' ' *2) ) ) mS'9S0K$&$F@& & & & ' @@UnknownGz Times New Roman5Symbol3& z Arial"qh/f0f! ! !r4! ! 3 K)?$#An Apple from the Tree of Knowledge    Oh+'0 (4 P \ ht|$An Apple from the Tree of Knowledge Normal 1Microsoft Word 10.0@F#@ʵrs@ys! ՜.+,0  hp|  !  $An Apple from the Tree of Knowledge Title !"#$%&')*+,-./2Root Entry F}Js4Data 1TableWordDocument:SummaryInformation( DocumentSummaryInformation8(CompObjj  FMicrosoft Word Document MSWordDocWord.Document.89q