Rumi: The Fly Who Thought She Was A Sailor

This is from Rumi's Masnavi I #3. Another seemingly simple little story yet replete with principles that serve as reflections. Is our self-perception consistent with the reality of the world around us?

Transcript

THE FLY WHO THOUGHT SHE WAS A SAILOR By Rumi A poor donkey had been patiently carrying his heavy load all day long,

Without a moment's respite.

He had not even been allowed to stop to pee.

Finally,

His owner reached his destination,

And the donkey was relieved of the merchandise heaped on his back.

Free at last from his burden,

The beast happily emptied his full bladder.

A short distance away,

A tiny fly was resting on a leaf lying on the ground.

The donkey's urine,

Flowing downstream,

Began to carry the leaf with the fly on it.

The fly was initially taken aback,

But not quite understanding what was happening.

After a little while,

Though,

She began to believe,

I'm sailing away on this sea.

I'm the captain of this ship,

And what a perfectly seasoned navigator I am.

Who dares to stop me now?

The fly was gloating in her pride,

Floating on the stream of urine,

Believing that she was sailing the seven seas.

Unbeknownst to her,

She was still the same lowly fly she'd always been,

Driven along by the furious pace of the urine's flow,

Unaware that nothing truly is as it seems.

Reviews

Love this story, thank you for facilitating

Goes to show ya! Lol
Love it

Amazing

That made me LOL 😊

That was so hilarious. Thank you so much! Made my day.😍😍😍

Well damn, 🪰
What a lesson. Nothing is as it seems

That’s a truth presented in a visual that will stay with me. Nothing is ever what it seems. Thank you for this. I laughed out loud. Thank you Rumi and Carol🙏🏻🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🙏🏻

I LOVED this...
When I'm not carefully paying attention,
I always end up in someone else's piss 😒 🙄 🙃

that was a LOT of urine😳 😅

I had never heard that poem from Rumi before. How fun! Thank you💗🦋💗

I love Rumi !I never heard this one . It made me smile :) thanks! ❤️