The first is a 55-word story called The Search by Robert Tompkins included in World’s Shortest Stories Of Love And Death.
It describes the Pyrrhic victory of a man who searches for the truth...and finds it.
The second tale is a Jewish teaching story entitled The Naked Truth.
It is about our need to dress up Truth in story in order to accept it.
These stories are vivid and memorable metaphors of Truth that stay with us long after we've read them.
They leave a sour aftertaste that gets sweeter until they make you smile.
Alberico Collina
THE SEARCH by Robert Tompkins
Finally, in this remote village, his quest ended.
There, by the fire, sat Truth.
Never had he seen an older, uglier woman.
“Are you Truth?”
The wizened, wrinkled hag nodded.
“What message can I take from you to the world?” he pleaded.
She replied, spitting into the fire. “Tell them I am young and beautiful.”
THE NAKED TRUTH (Old Jewish Teaching Story)
"Truth, naked and cold, had been turned away from every door in the village. Her nakedness frightened the people. When Parable found her she was huddled in a corner, shivering and hungry. Taking pity on her, Parable gathered her up and took her home. There, she dressed Truth in story, warmed her and sent her out again. Clothed in story, Truth knocked again at the doors and was readily welcomed into the villagers’ houses. They invited her to eat at their tables and warm herself by their fires."