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ne day, a proud man named Aimos
boasted that he could beat any man in a contest of physical strength. This
contest included swimming across a raging river, running for 3
strals across
rough and hilly wilderness, and finally climbing to the top of a valley that had
recently suffered a rockslide, and was now full of jagged rocks. Aimos’s
physical strength was well known, and none dared to
challenge him in such a task. The challenge went unanswered, until one day…
A man named Sellus came and said “I’ll take your challenge, but first I want to
walk along the course, so I know exactly the path I’m taking.” Aimos could
hardly believe it. This Sellus was athletic, but he was not strong, like he
himself was. But Aimos loved to show off, and he accepted the offer. Aimos
walked with Sellus for the entire course. The river, the wilderness, and the
valley.
“That is the course… As the challenger, you choose when
we shall start.” Aimos could already taste the victory.
”Alright then, we’ll start in four days time.” Sellus was calm and collected.
Aimos went and started to train himself to be the best. Sellus did not do so. He
instead took his first day and went to the river and studied it. He looked at
the plants that grew alongside it, and he saw the current of the river. And for
one full day, he just examined the river. The next day, Sellus examined the
wilderness, looking at the trees, and the wildlife, and everything that could be
seen. So for the second day, he just looked at the woods. The third day, Sellus
investigated the valley, seeing all the rocks that had fallen into it, because
of the rockslide.
For the fourth day, Sellus went to the town, and did nothing but stay in his
room.
On the day of the challenge, both men set off. Aimos easily had the lead,
swimming and running much faster than Sellus. Sellus went at a decent pace, but
it was no match for the speed set by Aimos. In fact, when Aimos reached the
valley, he stopped and waited for Sellus to emerge from the wilderness. “There
is no way you can beat me. I am much faster than you, and I was even able to get
a good rest too.” And off Aimos went to the valley, climbing and jumping from
rock to rock. Sellus didn’t move. As Aimos seemed victorious, the rock he was
holding gave way and moved from the wall, making him lose his grip. That rock
held another rock, which held another, and soon another rockslide filled the
valley. Aimos, with his remarkable strength, was able to survive, but he was
badly wounded. Sellus walked over to him. “How did you know that I was going to
start a rockslide?” Aimos asked.
“I took a day to study each of the three tasks, as you know. First, I looked at
the river, and saw it was perfectly safe to swim in, so I swam through the
river. The next day, I looked in the wilderness, and saw it was perfectly safe
to run through, so I ran through the wilderness. But when I saw the valley, I
could see that the rocks were not stable, and another rockslide would be caused
with provocation. That’s why I didn’t climb the rocks. Remember, Aimos…
Knowledge conquers all.”
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