Page 12 - The Gluckman Occasonal Number Nine

shut me out of providing guidance. It’s going to get us all in a lot
trouble. Oh, all right, conceded Id, finally stirred from its stupor. I
still run most of the brain, including the entire unconscious. Ego
must be compensating for some repressed trauma or other. I’ll dig it
out and let you use it as a conditioning tool. You will know when
Ego is out of line, and give it jolt of those memories. I don’t know
how much of what it thinks is nonsense. Well, rejoined Superego, I
certainly do. And I will be glad to take Ego down a peg or two.
Moral: Knowing oneself cannot be complete, but it should not be totally lacking.

Parafable of the Bottle

A boy found a dirty old bottle in an alley and rubbed at its label.
Poof! A genie came out and said, “You have three wishes—but I
have one, and I’m going first. I wish this empty bottle were filled
with joy juice!” And, lo and behold! It instantly filled to the neck with
a sparkling fluid, scintillating with pink and orange and purple and
green swirling things. “Ah!” said the genie. “Have I got a thirst! 73
years between drinks!” And he picked up the bottle and drank it
down to the last drop. Then he belched, stretched and lay down on a
pile of rags. “Genie?” said the boy. But the genie had fallen asleep
and was snoring loudly.
Moral: One does not easily escape one’s origins.

Parafable of the Homecoming

Chickens return to the roost for the annual contest between the
Rhode Island Reds and the Plymouth Rocks. In the midst of all the
intoxicating refreshments, team-cheer squawking and feverish betting
on the cockfights, none of the rooters would wonder that the
sponsors and promoters of the event had suspiciously pointed ears
and bushy tails, or that their flocks would diminish in size by the time
a lone rooster stood unchallenged in the center of the ring, crowing
victory..
Moral: The big game isn’t always who or what it appears to be.

Parafable of the Rats

When a cruise ship first leaves port, its passengers are called to
assemble at designated lifeboat stations to learn their means of
leaving the ship in the event of disaster at sea. They are addressed by