How war was born

How war was born

Two monks had been together for many years and had never quarreled with each other.

One day they became aware of this and felt surprised. They said to themselves that it could not be that they had to know the experience of so many people that quarrel; otherwise they would not be able to understand or help them.

One of them came up with the following idea: he would take a stone and grasp it firmly and say it was his. The other would pretend as if he also wanted it and would deny that it belonged to the first because it was he who had seen it before, and so they would start arguing. His companion thought that it was a great idea and so, they started.

The first took a stone and said: “This is mine”. The other replied: “Well, if you say it’s yours, it must be yours. Keep it!” They didn’t know how to keep on with discussion. They exchanged roles, but the same thing happened again.

Finally, they let it go, discovering that arguments, disputes and wars among humans begin when somebody says: “This is mine”.

(Translated from Spanish by Andrea González)