Meeting in the Middle

14 Meeting in the Middle There once lived a frog near the city of Kyoto. He dreamed of making a voyage to the city of Osaka. Everyone said it was the finest city in all the world. Meanwhile, another frog, who lived in Osaka, was dreaming of travelling to the great city of Kyoto. Now, neither frog knew each other, nor did they know that at exactly the same moment, they each set out to fulfill their dreams. For many days, the two frogs travelled in different directions towards their goal. The trip was exhausting, especially when they each came to a mountain exactly halfway between the two cities. But neither gave up his dream. Each, on his own, climbed all the way to the top of the mountain. When they got to the top, they were very tired. They both stopped to rest, falling asleep only a few metres from each other.

When they awoke, they were surprised to see the other there. And naturally, as travellers often do, they struck up a conversation. The Kyoto frog explained that he was on his way to see Osaka. And the Osaka frog said that it was a strange thing, but he was on his way to explore the fine city of Kyoto. After a while, they decided to stand on their back legs, leaning against each other so each could look at the city to which he was travelling. There was only one problem. As you know, when a frog stands up, his eyes are on the back of his head. So, when they pointed their noses in the direction of their destinations, they were actually looking back at their own cities -the ones from which they had just come. " Oh my! " exclaimed the Kyoto frog. “ Your city looks exactly like my city. There is no difference at all. " And the Osaka frog, who was really looking back at his own city, exclaimed, “ What a disappointment. Your city looks exactly like mine. " The two frogs sadly decided not to travel further. Why go all that way only to discover a city exactly like their own? And for the rest of their lives, they mistakenly believed that Osaka and Kyoto were exactly the same. And as you know, nothing could be further from the truth.