THE HORSE IN THE HOLE

A short story, a very revealing one. A metaphor that supposes a lot of varied perspectives, so I leave the interpretation of it up to you.

The story tells about this farmer, who faced great difficulties to make a living, and who had some horses to work in his small piece of land. One day, to his dismay, his foreman discovered one of the animals stuck into a very deep hole. It was almost impossible to remove it from there. Although the horse was not injured, the farmer assessed the situation and concluded that the rescue operation involved a much too high investment. Not being a man given to compassion, he decided that it was better to order the foreman to sacrifice the horse, by throwing soil into the well to bury it. And so he did, he began to fill the well with soil but, as it fell over the animal, it would shake it up, trample it and get it accumulated in the bottom of the well, which made possible for the horse to slowly rise and rise to the surface. Thus, the land that was pulled over for burial in the pit became, once well shaken, firm ground in order for the horse to step out of the well.

With a similar intention of this story points out the following aphorism: “With the stones I was thrown out, I built my beautiful home”.

I wish you a happy and alchemical week.

Hugs and kisses,

Álex