Page 25 - Viva Real English 4 : Ebook
P. 25
right to save one life at the cost of many lives. To protect this pigeon you are letting
my whole family die. Is this justice?’
This question from the falcon put Shibi in a dilemma. He thought for a while and
said, ‘It is one’s supreme duty to protect someone in danger. A king cannot get
away from his duties even if everyone else does. I can give you my whole kingdom
if you promise not to harm this pigeon.’
‘This is no solution to my problem,’ persisted the argumentative falcon. ‘I am a
carnivorous bird. To give me food you will anyway have to kill another creature.
Does it then make any difference? Consider this solution: please give me some
flesh from your body equal to the weight of this pigeon.’
‘How well this falcon argues,’ thought Shibi, ‘it has an accurate sense of right and
wrong.’
at the cost of (something) : the supreme : most important
loss involved in achieving argumentative : constantly arguing
something carnivorous : meat-eating
dilemma : difficulty of choosing accurate : correct and true
between two equally
important options
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