A Cold Winter
Last fall, the Indians on a remote reservation
in North Dakota asked their new chief if
the coming winter was going to be cold
or mild.
Since he was a chief in a modern society,
he had never been taught the old secrets.
When he looked at the sky, he couldn't
tell what the winter was going to
be like.
Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told
his tribe that the winter was indeed going to
be cold and that the members of the village
should collect firewood to be prepared.
But, being a practical leader, after several
days, he got an idea.
He went to the phone booth, called the
National Weather Service and asked,
'Is the coming winter going to be cold?'
'It looks like this winter is going to be
quite cold,' the meteorologist at the
weather service responded.
So the chief went back to his people and
told them to collect even more firewood
in order to be prepared.
A week later, he called the National Weather
Service again. 'Does it still look like it is
going to be a very cold winter?'
'Yes,' the man at National Weather
Service again replied, 'it's going to
be a very cold winter.'
The chief again went back to his people
and ordered them to collect every
scrap of firewood they could find.
Two weeks later, the chief called
the National Weather Service again.
'Are you absolutely sure that the
winter is going to be very cold?'
'Absolutely,' the man replied.
'It's looking more and more like it is going
to be one of the coldest winters we've
ever seen.'
'How can you be so sure?' the chief asked.
The weatherman replied, 'The Indians are
collecting a shitload of firewood'
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