The Lavender Problem
A man of average age for his time and location and race meets another.
The second, of course, is famous for being wise.
Hoping to improve his social station, the first man approaches the second.
A puzzle arises from the first’s mind and confronts the well-known philosopher.
The problem, as it is presented, appears thusly:
“A sprig of lavender sits upon a seaside cliff.”
The philosopher, as hoped, is stumped.
He cannot decide whether to answer with a phrase shaped like so:
“Irrelevant. In the relative future, it will not,
And in the relative past, it did not.”
Or perhaps with a different phrase, this one as such:
“And it will continue to last until the end of its time,
As will we all. Hurrah for the death that must come!”
And his final option, seemingly the most persuasive option,
Is to ignore the other man, and continue on his way.
He remains positioned as he was, as does the other,
And they remain so, still. And will until the end of their times.
So, in summary, by way of a simple puzzle,
Neither man succeeds in his respective mission.
The first is not advanced socially, for the other can answer.
The second is stumped by the sheer number of answers available,
And thereby loses some of his social standing.
And neither will exist in the relative future,
And neither have existed in the relative past,
And neither can decide to forgo the puzzle and continue on.
(So there was this really cool Garin Wood picture of a sprig of lavender on a seaside cliff, and I saw it on delta-breeze’s blog, but now I can’t find it and I’m multo multo sorry. So if you read this (haha yeah right) then go see if you can find it, cause it is very pretty. I am honored to have seen such a photograph.)
