Chapter 23
A wealthy patrician once treated the people of Rome to great theatrical acts and publicly offered a prize to anyone who could perform something unique. Stimulated by this offer, numerous actors arrived from all over the country to compete for the prize, and among them was a well-known, witty comedian, who spread the news that he would do something extraordinary. When the people heard his news, the whole city came together, and the theater could barely hold the number of spectators who came to see the spectacle. When the comedian appeared alone on stage without any props or assistants, curiosity and suspense mounted, keeping the spectators in profound silence. All of a sudden the comedian thrust his head into his bosom and mimicked the squealing of a young pig in such a natural way that the audience believed he had one under his cloak and ordered him to be searched. Yet, once this was done, nothing could be found, and they celebrated this event with the most extravagant applause imaginable.
A farmer was in the audience, and when he witnessed this unique act, he remarked, “Oh, I can do better than that!”
And all at once he announced that he would perform the next day.
As a result, an even larger crowd gathered the following day. However, most of the people were biased in favor of the comedian, and they came to laugh at the farmer rather than give him a fair chance. When the two men came out on stage, the comedian grunted away first, and his performance was received with great clapping and applause. Then the farmer pretended that he had concealed a little pig under his clothes (which he had really done) and pinched its ear until he made it squeal.
The people cried out that the comedian had imitated the pig much more naturally and began hooting and demanding that the farmer leave the stage. But to show them how wrong they were, the farmer produced the real pig from his bosom.
“And now, gentlemen,” he said, “you can decide for yourselves what sad judges you make!”
It is easier to convince a man against his senses than against his will.
