The Fable of the Wise Servant

The fable of the wise servant and the philosopher has an important lesson for us. Xanthus, the philosopher, sent his faithful servant Aesop and told him to bring the best food he could find for a sumptuous banquet. Aesop went to the market and brought back tongues from all kinds of different animals. He served a full-course dinner. He would serve one tongue with a certain kind of sauce, and then the next course came along, and it was another kind of tongue with a different sauce on it.

Finally, Xanthus was just furious and called Aesop in and said to him, "Servant, I sent you to the market to get the best thing you could find – the best thing possible – and you brought us these tongues. Now tell me, what is this madness?"

Aesop, the wise servant, said, "Tongues are the best of all foods. For out of the tongue comes the bond of civilization. Out of the tongue comes the organ of truth and reason. The tongue is the instrument of praise and adoration. What better food could there be than a tongue?"

Xanthus said, "Then tomorrow you go to the marketplace and bring me the worst food you can find."

The next day Aesop served the meal, and he had tongues for every course – served with different sauces, but tongues again.

Xanthus called him aside and said, "I thought I told you to bring the worst food. You've got tongues again. Yesterday it was the best food, and today it is the worst food! Tell me, why are we having tongues as the worst food?"

Aesop the faithful servant said, "Tongues are the instrument of all strife and tension. Tongues! The inventor of lawsuits and slander. Tongues! The organ of error, lies, and all kinds of strife and problems. So I brought you the worst food – that is the tongue."

The best of foods and the worst of foods, this instrument called the tongue.

The tongue is the greatest force in the universe! Our words have the power to elevate our thinking. Your self-talk and the words you speak will determine whether you think negative or positive thoughts and whether you feel bad or feel good. Our words can also do the same for another.