The red and blue coat
Once upon a time in a picturesque village, there were two inseparable boys, Ethan and Liam. From a young age, they vowed to remain the best of friends forever. Their bond was so strong that when they grew up and got married, they built their houses facing one another. Between their farms, a narrow path served as a border, a symbol of the clear boundary yet shared life they led.
Ethan was the more cautious and thoughtful of the two. He had a knack for farming and was known for his patience and fairness. Liam, on the other hand, was bold, adventurous, and sometimes a bit too quick to judge, but his heart was always in the right place. Together, they balanced each other perfectly, like the two halves of a whole.
One day, a mischievous boy from the village, named Finn, decided to play a trick on them. Finn was known for his pranks, but this time, his mischief would have more serious consequences. He wore a two-color coat divided down the middle—red on one side and blue on the other. With this coat, Finn walked slowly and deliberately along the narrow path between Ethan and Liam’s houses, making enough noise to ensure they would both notice him.
As Finn walked, Ethan, busy with his crops, looked up and saw the bright red coat. Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the path, Liam, tending to his livestock, noticed the coat too—but from his perspective, it was blue.
At the end of the day, when the two friends met to relax after their hard work, Ethan remarked, “Did you see that boy with the beautiful red coat today?”
Liam, taken aback, replied, “Red? You must be mistaken, Ethan. The coat was clearly blue!”
What began as a simple disagreement quickly escalated into a heated argument. Both men were stubborn and refused to consider the other’s point of view. The more they argued, the more convinced they became of their own version of the truth. Tempers flared, and soon enough, the two friends—who had once been like brothers—began to insult each other and even came to blows.
As they fought, Finn returned, having overheard their argument. Amused by the chaos he had caused, he approached the fighting friends and stood before them, revealing his coat in full view—red on one side, blue on the other. “Stop fighting, you fools!” Finn laughed. “Look at the coat closely. Both of you are right, and yet both of you are wrong.”
The friends froze, realizing the truth. They were embarrassed and angry, not just at Finn, but also at themselves for letting such a simple misunderstanding nearly destroy their friendship.
But Finn wasn’t finished. Seeing their anger, he spoke with unexpected wisdom: “Don’t be mad at me for showing you the truth from different angles. Your fight wasn’t just about the color of my coat. It’s about your inability to see things from each other’s perspectives. In life, the truth is often multifaceted. If you only look at it from one side, you miss out on the bigger picture.”
Ethan and Liam, now calm, realized the depth of Finn’s words. They apologized to each other, not just for the argument, but for failing to trust in their friendship. They made a pact to always consider each other’s views, no matter how different they might seem.
To commemorate this lesson, Ethan and Liam planted a tree on the path between their houses. The tree grew with two trunks that intertwined as they ascended, just like their friendship—rooted in different perspectives, but ultimately united at the top. And under its shade, they lived out their days, grateful for the lesson that a mischievous boy and his two-color coat had taught them.
