One day there passed by a company of cats a wise dog.
And as he came near and saw that they were very intent and heeded him not, he stopped.
Then there arose in the midst of the company a large, grave cat and looked upon them and said, “Brethren, pray ye; and when ye have prayed again and yet again, nothing doubting, verily then it shall rain mice.”
And when the dog heard this he laughed in his heart and turned from them saying, “O blind and foolish cats, has it not been written and have I not known and my fathers before me, that that which raineth for prayer and faith and supplication is not mice but bones.”
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Source of the parable: The Madman: His Parables and Poems
Available at: The Project Gutenberg, retrieved: July 20, 2015
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Khalil Gibran, according to Wikipedia, is “the third best-selling poet of all time, behind Shakespeare and Laozi” (retrieved: July 20, 2015).