What tales they tell about the Beaufort Sea! At some people they laugh until they cry, at others they cry.
Some call them empty chatter, lies. Others - the true truth.
And smart people say: when you hear a fairy tale that people repeat more than once, close your eyes, open your ears, listen and enjoy!
Here is one of these fairy tales for you, and whether you cry or laugh is up to you. In any case, a smart person will follow the advice of a smart person.
There lived a man named Jones in the city of Beaufort. He was a good craftsman, but he was too interested in all sorts of bolts, cogs, nuts, and wheels. When people asked him why, he answered:
- I want to discover the secret of perpetual motion in order to make various objects move continuously and without outside help. A perpetual motion machine is a trickier thing than the gold that alchemists are trying to get. If you find a perpetual motion machine, the machines will move and work themselves. Can you imagine how much money you can earn then?
Some laughed at Jones, others said:
-Or maybe he knows something? -In any case, he was always surrounded by a crowd of onlookers who watched him forge and solder.
One bright spring morning, Master Jones went out in his skiff to fish in the waters of Beaufort. Having gone away from the islands on which the city lay, he raised his oars and sat waiting with a harpoon in his hand, looking at the steep oncoming waves. He wanted to harpoon a large winged stingray or, as it is also called, a sea devil. There were a lot of them there in those days.
It was so cozy, pleasant to sit in the warm sun, with a sea wave quietly splashing against the side of the boat nearby. Soon he forgot what cruel task he had come here for; he no longer wanted to hit the fish, which was playing carefree in the depths. His thoughts focused on something else - on the fast wheels spinning continuously.
He forgot about everything in the world and did not even notice how his oars floated far into the blue-gray sea. And suddenly he woke up from his waking dream. He saw the mighty spread wings of a giant sea devil. Immediately a harpoon shot up in his hand and went deep under the water.
The fish, mad with pain and rage, tore from side to side. But the pain did not go away; on the contrary, it only tormented me more. The stingray rushed deeper into the depths in a wild rage, trying to get rid of the torment. But this did not help, and with even greater ferocity he began to rush up and down, back and forth, dragging Jones's skiff behind him.
People on the shore and in fishing boats clearly saw a skiff at sea, rushing across the sea without oars. They saw Jones in him, heard his screams and decided that he had finally found the secret of perpetual motion. Otherwise, how could a boat rush across the sea at such speed without oars and without a sail?
However, Jones in his skiff did not even think about a perpetual motion machine. He was scared to death and dreamed of only one thing; how to stop the mad race through the waves and get rid of the fish that was dragging him.
The fish was already carrying him to the open sea. Jones was overcome with horror. And the people on the shore and in the boats were having fun loudly and shouting “Hurray.”
Before the eyes of the frightened master, the sea spread out like an endless grave. And he flew straight at her! But suddenly it dawned on him: he had a knife in his pocket! He immediately pulled it out and began, with the last of his strength, to cut the rope with which the harpoon was tied to the boat. It was not easy, because the boat was tossed from side to side with great speed. Finally he succeeded. The rope holding the giant fish broke and the “perpetual motion machine” stopped. Poor Jones was almost unconscious.
Boats sailed from the city, and people picked up the exhausted fisherman. Only then did they find out what was the source of perpetual motion for Jones' skiff, which was circling wildly through the water.
However, this did not discourage Jones from continuing to tinker with his bolts and cogs in the hope of one day creating a perpetual motion machine.
People are forgetful.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru