A story about two travelers who came to a quiet lake, unaware of the danger hidden beneath its surface.
Parable: “If We Ignore What Is Written”
One day, two travelers stopped to rest beside a quiet, beautiful lake. They ate, rested for a while, and then went to the water to swim. One traveler immediately jumped into the water and began swimming. The other did not enter the water because he saw a sign with some writing on it in the distance.
The sign was far from where they were, but he decided to go over and read what it said.
When he approached the sign, it said that swimming in the lake was dangerous and strictly prohibited. He quickly returned to where they had been and shouted to his friend to get out of the water because it was dangerous to swim there.
The swimmer replied, “Don’t pay any attention to it. It’s probably private property, which is why they put up the sign.”
“Look, the water is clear, there’s no current, and there are definitely no sharks or crocodiles here. Everything is fine. Don’t be afraid—come swim…” But his friend replied, “I’m not going to swim here, and I’m asking you to get out of the water right now.” In response, he heard, “Okay, okay, don’t worry. I’ll get out soon—just a couple more minutes,” and he continued swimming.
Several minutes passed, and suddenly something happened on the bottom of the lake. Ripples appeared on the surface, a whirlpool formed, and a strong current began pulling the swimming traveler toward it. He began crying for help because he could not overcome the current, and moments later the water swallowed him.
His friend stood on the shore and wept bitterly because he could do nothing to help him. He could not jump into the water himself, since the whirlpool would have pulled him in too, and he could not call anyone for help because they were far from other people.
Author: Dmitriy Leo
