There was once a lord who wished for a new horse
and he asked his advisor where a fine specimen might be found.
The advisor thought for a moment and then declared
he had an old friend who was expert in the qualities of horses
and that he would send at once for his best animal.
A letter soon arrived from his friend in the country
announcing he would soon be sending a black stallion
as a gift to the lord.
When the horse arrived however, it turned out to be a brown mare.
‘You said your friend was an expert!’ the lord complained,
‘But he doesn’t even know the color or sex of his own horses!’
‘Ah, has he really come as far as that?’ the advisor sighed in admiration.
‘So keen is his sight
he no longer even sees the outer characteristics of the horse,
only its inner quality.’