Though it had the natural sentiments in it that all mountain fresh water contained the mountain fresh water was perfectly safe, and yet despite its natural purity the community folk refused to buy it. They drank instead the water they had quaffed for years that they bought from one of two long established fountains. Water, from the first fountain had been laced with cyanide for decades. Water from the second fountain had been laced with strychnine for even longer. Both of these popular fountains were killing the folk, but as ingrained habit is a relentless force they just kept supporting the foul fountains.
All pleading with people to drink the water that was healthy for them fell on deaf ears — even on the ears of people who were by all accounts concerned about their health and the health of their children and neighbors.
The community folk reasoned that since the mountain fresh water would never become the most popular water they needed to drink from the other fountains. They insisted that only by supporting the foul fountains could they influence the amount of cyanide or strychnine that were mixed into the water of the foul fountains.
“Why, if we elected to drink the mountain fresh water who knows how high the level the poison could go in the other fountains,” they said. “Besides” they offered, “if we give up electing to drink from the lesser foul fountain everybody will end up having to drink from the greater foul fountain.”
When it was suggested that they would be better off to drink the mountain fresh water and just break the poisonous fountains altogether if that was necessary they blanched at what they considered a radical idea.
“Better to have some water source, even if poisonous, then fight for pure water,” they said with one voice.
And so time went on and eventually even those who styled themselves health nuts developed a taste for the poisonous fountains, insisting that they weren’t really that bad. Indeed, so ferocious was their loyalty to the poisonous fountains that they heaped opprobrium upon anybody who dared to suggest that the the folk were killing themselves and their community.
Let those who have ears to hear, hear the parable of the foolish fountain folk.
