A traveler, after losing his way in the mountain, took refuge for the night in a cave. He saw at once that another had preceded him and was now warming himself before a fire of sticks and leaves. When the traveler entered, the other man said, “I’m an untouchable. Be careful not to stumble and fall against me.”
The traveler sat on the other side of the fire watching his companion. He wondered what differences made one of them an honorable man and the other an outcast. Not seeing any physical difference between them, he thought perhaps the solution lay in another field. He said, “Tell me, do you feel hate and joy and love, as I do? Are you capable of felling hope and jealousy and regret?”