A certain cobbler who suffered from severe stomach pains rushed to see the local town doctor. The doctor checked him thoroughly and carefully, but could not find a single medicine prescription which might help the man. The cobbler asked anxiously, "Doctor, is there any remedy for my ailment?"

"Unfortunately, I do not have any medicines to help your situation and I cannot pin-point the root cause of your stomach pains," replied the doctor.

With a heavy heart the cobbler said, "Well, if there is nothing left to do, then I have just one final wish. I would like to take a large cooking pot, fill it with two pounds of lima beans and a gallon of vinegar, and cook the whole lot.  This will be my last dinner." 

The doctor shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't think much of this idea, but if you think it will work, then go ahead and try it."

The whole night the doctor waited for a knock on his door informing him, that the cobbler is very sick. However, the next morning to the doctor's amazement the cobbler was happy and cured of his illness. The doctor wrote in his journal, "Today a cobbler came to me for help and I had no remedy for him, but two pounds of lima beans and a gallon of vinegar cured the man."

A few days later, the doctor was called to help a tailor who was extremely ill. Once again, the doctor could not provide a remedy so he disappointedly admitted to the tailor that there was no cure available. The tailor cried out in pain, "Please doctor, can't you think of any other possible cure?"

The doctor thought a minute and then said, "No, but recently a cobbler came to me with similar stomach pains. He was helped by two pounds of lima beans and a gallon of vinegar."

"That sounds like a strange remedy, but I will give it a try," replied the tailor. He ate the beans with vinegar, but unfortunately, he was in even more pain the next day.

That day the doctor wrote in his journal, "Yesterday a tailor came to me, but nothing could be done for him. He ate beans with vinegar but it gave him more pain. What is good for cobblers is not good for tailors!"

Note: People across the globe have a lot in common, but there are differences which make each one of us unique. Many see the similarities to be greater than the differences. The story above is an old Persian tale.

top