The Wisdom of Ben🔊

In a small town of Mahogany, blessed by nature with splendid beauty and serenity, lived an unschooled and simple-minded man named Ben. Despite lacking scholastic wisdom, he was known for his intuitive intelligence and sharp perception. People adored him for his unique way of observing and interpreting situations that even the wisest failed to perceive.

One day, a renowned scholar from the city, intrigued by Ben's reputation, traveled to the town of Mahogany. The scholar, Edmund, was a man of great wisdom but also carried a touch of arrogance about his learning. He took it upon himself to publically challenge Ben, believing it to be an opportunity to validate his intellectual superiority.

The challenge involved a series of dilemmas that Edmund believed would confound Ben. The town's people, having great faith in their local hero, gathered in the central square to witness the unusual event. Despite his simplicity and ignorance of worldly knowledge, Ben graciously accepted the challenge.

The first question Edmund posed was; 'What is the ultimate goal of human life?' Ben took a moment, and then with an air of tranquility replied, 'Kindness. Because when you are kind, everything else follows.'

This answer left Edmund astonished, for he was expecting an intricate philosophical argument. The second question followed - 'What lies at the end of the Universe?' Ben responded, 'Our Vision. It ends where we choose it to end.'

The simplicity in Ben's answers was astonishing yet profound, leaving everyone, including Edmund, dumbfounded. Finally, for his last question, Edmund decided to confuse Ben with a paradox. He asked, 'If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?' Ben, without missing a beat, replied, 'Yes, it does. It doesn’t require someone to validate its existence.'

The crowd broke into applause, celebrating the wisdom in Ben's simple yet profound answers. Edmund, though left in a state of shock, had learned a valuable lesson. Intelligence and wisdom were not exclusive to the learned class. Even the simplest minds possessed a depth of understanding and intuition that escaped the intricacies of educated intellects.

Feeling a sense of humility and defeat, Edmund acknowledged Ben's wisdom and left Mahogany, carrying with him a lesson he had not anticipated to learn. From then on, tales of the unschooled man outsmarting the learned scholar traveled far and wide, only adding to Ben's repute.

The humble townsfolk of Mahogany, however, were not surprised by the outcome. They had always known that Ben, despite his lack of formal education, carried a pool of wisdom within him, wisdom formed not in the classrooms but bloomed in the lap of nature and life.

The story of Ben is a story of modesty, simplicity, and innate wisdom that surpasses all the acquired knowledge, reminding everyone that wisdom does not necessarily come with formal education but can be nurtured through observations and intuitive understanding of life.