"And here it is: You are Chirpy
Bird; granted. Birds eat fish; granted. Therefore, you eat fish."
"But--" Chirpy Bird tried to explain.
"There is no 'but.' It's a syllogism, and cannot be answered.
The conclusion follows necessarily," said Whisker Fish. "It's
pure logic."
"And it also follows," said Glubber fish, "that you must leave
the pond."
"I'll die if I leave the pond," said Chirpy Bird.
"That's not our problem," said Glubber Fish.
"And it's an irrelevant objection," added Whisker Fish. The
rest of the adult fish had gradually been easing forward during
this conversation and now, at the direction of Glubber Fish, the
whole group escorted Chirpy Bird down toward the rocky beach. In
a few minutes they reached a low spot near a weeping willow,
where several of the large fish grabbed Chirpy Bird and threw him
onto the shore.
"Now fly away and leave us alone," one of them said. And leave
them alone he did.
Man
Somewhere in a deep, tropical jungle lived a tribe of natives with
extremely odd behavior. Generations ago the tribe had in some
obscure fashion contracted a parasite which induced a seemingly
permanent delirium in each native, and which was passed on to
subsequent generations. The delirium increased with age, and most
of the adult natives showed it by eating dirt, sleeping on dunghills,
pummeling anthills with rocks even as the ants bit them severely, and
jumping out of trees onto their heads.
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