Once, the family of Mr. Time and Mrs. Space
gave birth to boy triplets. The one who was born first
was called Yesterday. The next one born was called
Today. And the last one born was called Tomorrow.
One day, many years later, they were
walking in the forest together, Yesterday,
Today, and Tomorrow, and they were having
a discussion about the nature of existence:
where did they come from, why were they
here, where were they going, and so on
. . .
Suddenly,
a bird flew from a tree and landed
near them. To their amazement, she
began to speak: "For the one among
you who can answer this riddle, I
will transform myself into a beau-tiful
princess and live with him forever."
The
riddle was: "How can an egg dance
without breaking?"
Yesterday
said, "I've seen worlds and
time but I have no idea what you
are talking about."
Tomorrow
said, "I have no experience
with such nonsense and I have no
idea what you are talking about."
Today
said, "I think I have an idea.
There's one way an egg can dance
without breaking and that's by being
a mime."
So the bird transformed herself into
a beautiful princess.
And then, she did something even more
surprising. She reached into her pocket
and took out an invisible egg. With a
flourish, she cracked the egg into an
invisible pan and pro-ceeded to cook
it over the invisible fire that she had
prepared for the purpose.
When the egg was done, she offered some
to Yesterday and Tomorrow. Then she took
half of the cracked shell, transformed
it into a crown, and placed it on Today's
head, making him a prince. She placed
the other half on her own head. Today
smiled. They kissed a tender kiss.
And the clever princess took hold of
Today's hand and away they danced --
stopping now and then to pirouette, hand-in-hand
-- together.