Once upon a time, there a waterfowl that was living alone in a lake. It was very scared of the night. It would keep shivering through the day thinking of the night and when the night came it couldn’t sleep a wink. Thus it was always tired and angry. Once a meditator was rowing past the river. He saw the waterfowl and noted how tired it looked. On enquiry, the swan revealed its fear of the night. “Take this towel and close your face with it during the day,” said the wise meditator. “Then the day will also feel like the night and you will lose your fear,” the meditator said. The waterfowl tried this and soon lost his fear of the night. The meditator returned after a few months, “Remove your towel now. You don’t need it.” The waterfowl removed his towel and he found that strangely enough he had lost his fear of the night.
Touchstone Alice 