The great scholar known as the Vilna Gaon once asked the Preacher of Dubno, "Help me to understand. What makes a parable so influential? If I recite Torah, there's a small audience, but let me tell a parable and the synagogue is full. Why is that?"
The dubner maged replied,"I'll explain it to you by means of a parable".
"Once upon a time Truth went about the streets as naked as the day he was born. As a result, no one would let him into their homes. Whenever people caught sight of him, they turned away or fled. One day when Truth was sadly wandering about, he came upon Parable. Parable, seeing Truth, said, "Tell me, neighbor, what makes you look so sad? Truth replied bitterly, ´Ah, brother, things are bad. Very bad. I´m old, very old, and no one wants to acknowledge me. No one wants anything to do with me´.
"Hearing that, Parable said, "People don´t run away from you because you are old. I too am old. Very old. But the older I get,the better people like me. I´ll tell you a secret: Everyone likes things to be disguised and perttied up a bit. Let me lend you some splendid clothes like mine, and you´ll see that the very people who pushed you aside will invite you into their homes and be glad of your company.
"Truth took Parable´s advice and put on the borrowed clothes. And from that time on, Truth and Parable have gone hand in had together and everyone loves them. They make a happy pair".
Yiddish Folktales, ed. by Beatrice Silverman Weinreich, transl. Leonard Wolf, First Shocken Paperback Edition, 1997, p. 7
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