The Vices of Virtues: A Fable

There was a dog named Erudito, who was the leader of a large pack of dogs, 30 strong. He knew the best places to hunt, had composed treaties with rival packs, and maintained peace within his own lands. All rolled over for Eruditio in his plentiful land named after himself.

There was a she dog of low rank named Sapientia. She belonged to a lowly pack of the land Vero, who was headed by a dog of the same name.

These two lands were as far apart as any other land, and the plains of Mutatio separated them. The land of Vero was many thousands of feet higher than Eruditio, and the plains of Mutatio had to slope up from Eruditio to meet Vero. It was harder to travel from Eruditio to Vero than from Vero to Eruditio because of this.

The land of Vero was difficult to live in. Clouds with rain could not raise themselves up the plains of Mutatio. Thus, Vero was a dry, cold, windy place to live in. How the pack of Vero survived was a mystery to many surrounding packs.

The two packs and their leaders Vero and Eruditio were tolerant of each other for hundreds of thousands of years.

One day, though, Sapientia came to Eruditio, and warned him that there would be a huge earthquake, which would flatten the plains of Mutatio, and force the clouds with rain up to Vero. Sapientia knew that Eruditio and his followers would only listen to reason, so she presented him with logic and facts. Eruditio scoffed, saying he already knew there was to be an earthquake. He said it would be folly to go to a land which would soon be separated from all, and would be without water or food. He reasoned through his theories of science that the clouds would never rise, since it went against his science. Sapientia tried to explain how her theories, given to her by Vero, were more filled in and reasonable than his, and how science actually did show that the clouds could rise, but Eruditio would not listen. After all, what did this she dog know that he hadn't long taught?

Finally, the beginnings the earthquake began, so that Sapientia, and others who joined her, had to return to Vero, sad that only a few had decided to follow them. The plains of Mutatio collapsed, the clouds rose to the land of Vero, and the land of Eruditio wasted away miserably for all of history in chaos and brutality.