Once a friend of mine decided to bore a hole in the sea.<\/p>\n
He saw it like this: you start on your way, reach the sea, bore the hole you need, and then go back. Quite a simple and easy affair.<\/p>\n
For that friend of mine most things in the world were simple and clear. To begin with, some were not, but as soon as he looked at them with his kind and clever eyes, things would obligingly and even gladly, become simple and clear.<\/p>\n
But when my friend decided to bore a hole in the sea, there were people who said that he was mad. To go and bore a hole in the sea was madness.<\/p>\n
\u2018Why?\u2019 my friend asked. \u2018Have you ever bored one?\u2019<\/p>\n
It turned out they had not.<\/p>\n
\u2018Then how do you know it\u2019s madness?\u2019<\/p>\n
Well, everybody said it was.<\/p>\n
\u2018But have they bored one?\u2019 he asked.<\/p>\n
\u2018Who?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Everybody?\u2019<\/p>\n
It turned out that they had not bored one either.<\/p>\n
\u2018Have they tried to, at least?\u2019<\/p>\n
It turned out that they had not tried to, either.<\/p>\n
Then my friend begged their pardon, but asked why on earth he should be considered mad, and they should not be considered so. And in general, why did they always go and prevent people from doing the work they intended to do by various statements and maxims. He said he had made up his mind to bore a hole in the sea and he would do it. He had not much time to lose either \u2013 he needed the hole at once.<\/p>\n
He said good-bye to the people who told him he was mad, took his tools and started on his way to the sea.<\/p>\n
Before setting out for the sea, he said good-bye to his wife, too. She used to say that other people contrived their lives much better and were now touring up and down Bulgaria in their cars, enjoying the weather, while he was going to bore holes in the sea. She said he was always getting ideas into his head, and would not let well alone until he had tried them out.<\/p>\n
My friend looked at her with those kind and clever eyes of his, but she did riot become simple and clear, as most things did, but stuck to her guns. Then he said \u2018Good-bye\u2019 to her and got on the train. On the train, everybody began to engage in general conversation as is usually the case in trains: first they talked about the weather, then expressed their opinion about the football matches, and after that they discussed foreign policy and the latest cunning manoeuvres of world imperialism. Finally each one started explaining the reason for his train journey. It turned out that they were all travelling on business.<\/p>\n
\u2018What is your business?\u2019 they asked my friend.<\/p>\n
\u2018I am going to bore a hole in the sea,\u2019 he answered.<\/p>\n
\u2018So you are not going on business,\u2019 the other passengers laughed, \u2018just on visit to the sea, eh?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Why not?\u2019 my friend said. \u2018I told you I\u2019m going to bore a hole in the sea.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Do you mean that seriously?\u2019 the people asked.<\/p>\n
\u2018How else should I mean it?\u2019 my friend said. \u2018Of course, I mean it seriously. I\u2019ve got my tools here.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018And you are going to bore a hole in the sea?!?!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Yes, I\u2019ve decided to!\u2019 my friend replied. \u2018I\u2019m going to get through with the job before it\u2019s too late. I need the hole now; got to do it at once.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018You need the hole now, do you?\u2019 the people asked.<\/p>\n
\u2018That\u2019s right!\u2019 my friend said. \u2018I just happen to need it.\u2019<\/p>\n
The people in the compartment looked at each other and winked.<\/p>\n
\u2018Are you going to make a big one?\u2019 they asked.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019ll make it the size I need it,\u2019 he said. \u2018I know what size I need.\u2019<\/p>\n
Then the people started looking carefully at my friend from top to toe, and then, one by one, they went out of the compartment to have a smoke in the corridor of the train.<\/p>\n
A little later three men came into the compartment, with the guard at their head. What immediately struck my friend was the build of their bodies. They were obviously in the best of health, and you could almost see them bursting with muscle and strength.<\/p>\n
\u2018In the past they chose people like you for the Guards,\u2019 he told them.<\/p>\n
They agreed with him immediately and asked him if he had served in the Guards.<\/p>\n
\u2018I was too young,\u2019 he said. \u2018I was at school at that time.\u2019<\/p>\n
Again they agreed with him immediately and asked him if the seats were free.<\/p>\n
\u2018There were some people in here,\u2019 he said. \u2018I\u2019ve no idea whether they\u2019ve got off the train or whether they\u2019ll be coming back to their seats. They went outside to have a smoke.\u2019<\/p>\n
The men said that those passengers had got off at the previous stop, but my friend thought this rather strange, as their luggage was still in the rack.<\/p>\n
\u2018In that case they must have forgotten their luggage,\u2019 my friend observed. \u2018They must be extraordinarily absent-minded fellows.\u2019<\/p>\n
The men asked him if they could remain in the compartment. \u2018Please do,\u2019 my friend said \u2018and let\u2019s hope it\u2019s for the best.\u2019 The three men turned slightly pale and asked him what he meant.<\/p>\n
\u2018I was joking,\u2019 he said. \u2018People used to say that in the past, when they were superstitious.\u2019<\/p>\n
The three men became visibly calmer and asked him on what business he was travelling, if it was not a secret.<\/p>\n
\u2018I\u2019m going to bore a hole in the sea.\u2019 my friend said.<\/p>\n
\u2018In the sea?\u2019 the men asked.<\/p>\n
\u2018That\u2019s right,\u2019 my friend said. \u2018I just happen to need it.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018And have you got your tools with you?\u2019 they asked again.<\/p>\n
\u2018They are over there in the corner,\u2019 my friend said pointing to them.<\/p>\n
\u2018They\u2019re fine tools!\u2019 the men said. \u2018And how long do you think it is going to take you to do the job?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Well, I\u2019ll try and get through with it quickly,\u2019 my friend replied. \u2018I need the hole at once.\u2019<\/p>\n
Then one of the men looked at his watch and said in an unnatural voice: \u2018It\u2019s four o\u2019clock!\u2019 In spite of the fact that it was already eight o\u2019clock. At the same moment all three of them set on my friend, twisted his arms behind his back, tied him up and told him to accompany them to the guard\u2019s van.<\/p>\n
At the next station they took him off the train and sent him back to Sofia for a medical check.<\/p>\n
There the whole story was repeated all over again.<\/p>\n
\u2018You mean a hole in the sea?\u2019 the doctor asked.<\/p>\n
\u2018In the sea!\u2019 my friend replied calmly, looking at the doctor with his kind eyes and wondering why everybody who heard that was so astonished.<\/p>\n
\u2018A hole?\u2019 the doctor asked.<\/p>\n
\u2018That\u2019s right, a hole,\u2019 my friend answered.<\/p>\n
They asked him who he was and whether he was not by any chance John Barleycorn, Nebuchadnezzar, Cleopatra or Rameses II, the Egyptian Pharaoh.<\/p>\n
\u2018Are you crazy?\u2019 my friend said. \u2018What Pharaoh are you talking about? Can\u2019t you see the name in my passport?\u2019<\/p>\n
Then the psychiatry people got huffed and said it was not they who were crazy but he.<\/p>\n
\u2018Why crazy?\u2019 my friend asked. \u2018Because I want to bore a hole in the sea? Haven\u2019t you ever wanted to do that?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018No!\u2019 the people answered.<\/p>\n
\u2018Why should I be mad for wanting to do it and you for not wanting to do it?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Because it\u2019s madness to bore a hole in the sea. It is impossible!\u2019<\/p>\n
My friend asked them if they had ever tried to make a hole in the sea, or to do something which was known to be mad and impossible. They answered that they had not and that though they were working in an asylum they were not mad.<\/p>\n
\u2018But have you never, never tried to do anything that is thought to be mad?\u2019 he asked them.<\/p>\n
\u2018Never, never\u2019, they answered.<\/p>\n
My friend was sorry for them and they were sorry for him; he thought that they were very, very unhappy and they thought he was very, very unhappy: he tried to relieve their unhappiness and they tried to relieve his unhappiness.<\/p>\n
Finally my friend took his tools, said good-bye to the people, and went on his way. I remember that he came straight to me and told me the whole story.<\/p>\n
So these people would not let my friend bore a hole in the sea. And those who would not let him do it were the people who never wanted to do anything which was known to be impossible and crazy.<\/p>\n
Still my friend bored that hole. He took his tools, went there and bored it. I was the only person he told about it, for he already knew what people were. But he told me, because he and I knew each other very well.<\/p>\n
Now the sea has got a hole in it, it\u2019s there, but those who say that they are going to drive holes into the sea are still declared mad by the majority of mankind.<\/p>\n
Mankind can go on doing this, but I personally believe that it will be the mad ones that will first set foot on the other planets. They will walk about on the surface and craters, they will look straight into the sun and talk to the local inhabitants, who will be strange and, perhaps, also mad. Then they will take up their tools and go to drive holes into the seas of other galaxies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Once a friend of mine decided to bore a hole in the sea. He saw it like this: you start on your way, reach the sea, bore the hole you need, and then go back. Quite a simple and easy affair. For that friend of mine most things in the world were simple and clear. … <\/p>\n