Deceit spreads where it is welcomed.
Guard your heart, and choose truth over trickery.
Babrius Translation
Hermes had laden once a cart with lies,
And much deceit, and divers villanies.
This he essay’d to drive from race to race,
Passing near every nation’s dwelling-place,
And giving each a share. He came at last
To the Arabian land. As this he passed,
Down brake his wagon suddenly, ’tis said,
And stuck. The Arabs, eager for a raid,
And hoping here a merchant’s precious load,
Rifled the wain, nor sent it on its road
To other tribes beyond them. Hence I find
That false and knavish is each Arab’s mind.
And, as experience proves, to Arab tongue
No particle of truth hath ever hung.
How do you think an AI might simplify this fable? Here is one answer, and the illustration above was made from this simplification:
The Cart of Lies
Hermes once filled a cart with lies, tricks, and every sort of deceit. He set out to spread them among the people of the world, giving each nation a share.
But as he traveled, the cart broke down near a certain land. The people there, curious and quick, opened the cart and took everything inside. So the cart never reached the rest of the world.
From that day on, it was said that deceit seemed to gather more easily in some places than others.
Moral
Deceit spreads where it is welcomed. Guard your heart, and choose truth over trickery.
Perry. #309