The Masked Fool - A Story

A man declared himself wise. He spoke wise words to people, who gathered around him in droves. He said, “All the Gods are but many faces that conceal a single, unifying force. That is the True God, the True Face! I have seen it, and I can tell you how to see it yourselves!” And the people drank these sweet nectarine words.

One day, while addressing the people, a robed man in a mask came before the wise man. “Please speak your name, good sir.” said the wise man.

“I am called Fool,” said the stranger. “Good Wise Man, will you kindly remove these masks, that the people may see my true face? For you see, I have no arms of my own.”

“Certainly,” said the wise man, noting that this stranger indeed possessed no arms. He removed one mask, and then another, and then another, and then the final one. “Good sir,” said the wise man. “You have another mask beneath these four.”

“Indeed, dear Sage, you are mistaken. I have three masks beneath those four.” The stranger turned around; indeed, he had three masks, now.

“Why do you wear masks beneath masks?” asked the wise man.

“I told you. My name is Fool,” said the stranger. “Now, could you remove these masks, as well, that the people may see my true face?”

“Why, certainly,” said the wise man, quite confused. He set about removing these next three masks,and found beneath them what appeared to be yet two more. “Good Fool!” declared the wise man. “Why do you have two more masks beneath these three?”

“I told you. My name is Fool.” said the stranger. “Now, could you remove these masks, as well, that the people may see my true face?”

“But of course!” said the wise man, becoming quite annoyed and beginning to forget his manners. He thought to himself, though, that if another mask is beneath these two, it's just the one, and beneath that one is the man's true face. He removed both masks, but cried out after doing so, discovering not one more mask, but nine. “By Heaven!” said the wise man. “Why in all the Worlds do you have nine masks, now?! How many do you have?!”

“I told you. My name is Fool,” said the stranger. “Now, could you remove these masks, as well, that the people may see my true face? You see, I have no arms of my own.”

The wise man was quite angry now, and ripped all nine masks off. More masks were underneath, with the stranger's same strange answer as to why.

And so the wise man continued ripping off mask after mask, revealing no true face but yet more masks, until the people had quite forgotten his honeyed words and gone back to their business. That wise man is still ripping masks off this strange man to this day, in some forgotten village long retaken by the Woods.