Diogenes

If I recall correctly, Diogenes Laertes told this story about Diogenes the Cynic, minus the moral. Too many Diogenes’s!

Some thieves have burgled every house;

The rich are sorrowing

At sacrilege and heirlooms lost,

Spoons, silks and sapphire rings.

The poorer tenants mourn as well;

Their losses are their doom.

Without the coin for food or rent,

Hunger and eviction loom.

Just down the street, a misanthrope

Who lives in an old tub

Cackles at their lamentations,

And gives his hands a rub.

He used to own a battered cup,

That and a bowl for alms,

But then he saw an urchin drink

Right out of his cupped palms.

He learned that cups were luxury,

And threw the thing away.

He’s happier in poverty,

And that’s just how he’ll stay.

He boasts to passers-by he’s safe,

Since thieves can never steal

Knowledge or virtue from the good.

Wisdom alone is real.

How better for that mendicant

If thieves could somehow take

Self-satisfaction from such prigs.

Oh mellow him for pity’s sake.