The tale

There were two professors teaching at a university. One was old, famous, and very wise. The other was much younger, had begun to build a reputation for himself, and was known as a spell-binding storyteller.

One day the older professor, Dr. Simmer, asked the younger one, Dr. Spring, if he could relate a story he had been told in his youth by his mother - it was an old life tale of a young boy who climbed a mountain. He explained he had been told it many times but had always fallen asleep during it as a youth and, now as an old man the memory had come back and he wish to hear a graceful telling of the full tale. Dr. Spring said he too had heard the tale as a youth, but he had not encountered the telling of it in many years and would have to study it before it could attempt telling it himself.

Sometime after that, Dr. Spring came back to Dr. Simmer and told him he had been preparing and he felt ready to relate the tale of the boy and the mountain, if Dr. Simmer wished to have it told. Dr. Simmer put him off, suggesting it was not a good time and that perhaps they could do it another day. So they parted and Dr. Spring continued to study and prepare his presentation, as he did with any story he wanted to tell others.

Several weeks later, he approached his older colleague again and made the offer to tell the story again. As before, the offer was rejected. This time it was because Dr. Simmer did not want to take the time necessary to listen to the complete rendering of the tale.

Finally after months of preparation and long after the initial request, the two men were together again. The conversation turned eventually to the ancient tale of the boy and the mountain. Dr. Simmer asked if Dr. Spring was fully prepared for the telling of the tale. Dr. Spring said he had studied the tale faithfully and knew it well. When asked if he was now ready to tell the tale, the younger man said he was and sat down with his friend and told the tale beautifully. They were both moved. They both had accomplished what they sought.