WHY THEY WENT TO WAR.—
By Sol
A certain king sent to another king, saying, “Send me a blue pig with a black tail, or else—” The other replied:— “I have not got one, and if I had—” On this weighty cause they went to war. After they had exhausted their armies and resources, and laid waste their kingdoms, they began to wish to make peace; but before this could be done, it was necessary that the insulting language that led to the trouble be explained. “What could you mean,” asked the second king of the first, “by saying, ‘Send me a blue pig with a black tail, or else—?’” “Why,” said the other, “I meant a blue pig with a black tail, or else some other color. But what could you mean by saying, ‘I have not got one, and if I had—?’” “Why, of course, if I had I should have sent it.” The explanation was satisfactory, and peace was accordingly concluded. The story of the two kings ought to serve as a lesson to us all. Most of the quarrels between individuals are quite as foolish as the war of the blue pig with a black tail.—Sol.