P. V. Ramaswami Raju

The Black Dog and the White Dog

A man in the East once went about saying, "I can put these two dogs together, one of which is white, and the other black, as you see, and make a grey dog of them; and turn the grey dog again to the black dog and the white dog, if people would pay for the fun."

A wag who heard these words removed the two dogs at night, and left instead a grey cur. The man rose up in the morning and complained bitterly to the crowd, which came to see him, that some one had stolen his two dogs.

"No," said the wag, who was one of the crowd, "some one has simply saved you the trouble of putting the two dogs together, and making a grey dog of them. So you must now perform the other part of your trick, and make the black dog and the white dog out of this grey cur."

The man quietly threw his wallet over his shoulders and walked away. The wag and the crowd shouted—"The tongue hath no bone in it. It can turn as you twist it. It is one thing to say, and another thing to do!"