The Sugar Hill Ant And The Salt Hill Ant

Once, two ants met. One ant lived on a hill that was made out of sugar. The other ant lived on a hill made out of salt.

"Where are you from?" asked the salt ant.
"I live on the sugar hill."
"Sugar hill? What is sugar?"
"Oh, it's this wonderful, sweet-tasting stuff."

And the salt ant said, "I've never heard of that. I'm from the salt hill. I eat salt, and it makes me thirsty. But this sweet stuff sounds pretty good!"

So the ant from the sugar hill said, "Why don't you come over one day, and you can taste it and see if you like it?"

So the salt ant decided, "Yeah, a new taste. That's a good idea."

They agreed on a date. The day came, and soon the salt ant was getting ready to go. "Hmm," he thought, "I'm going all the way to this sugar hill. What if I don't like it? What if it tastes terrible? Then I'll be hungry. I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to bring some salt with me, so I'll have it in case I don't like sugar." He put some salt in his mouth and took off.

When the salt ant arrived, the sugar ant was glad to see him. "Hey, how are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm good. I just can't wait to taste the sugar! It sounds great."
"Here. Taste it."

The salt ant put the sugar in his mouth, chewed on it a little bit, and said, "It tastes just like salt."
"Really?!"
"Yeah! It tastes just like my salt---there's no difference. I guess you call it 'sugar' here, and we call it 'salt' where I live. It's the same thing!!"

The sugar ant said, "I don't think so. Open your mouth. Let me take a look."

Sure enough, in the back of his mouth, there was some salt. So the sugar ant said, "Let me have that," and he took it out. "Now, taste the sugar."

"Wow! Unbelievable. It's so different, so amazing! I love this stuff!! I'm moving!"

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The Legend of Theseus

King Aigeus of Athens, dogged by misfortune and childless through the enmity of Aphrodite, established her worship in Athens and went to consult the Delphic Oracle. It enjoined him not to unite his wineskin till he reached home again, or he would die one day of grief. On his way back through Troizen he told his story to King Pittheus, who, guessing that some notable birth was portended, let Aigeus while drunk to the bed of his daughter Aithra. Later in the same night, she was commanded in a dream to wade over to the island shrine of Athene, where Poseidon also lay with her. When Aigeus awoke he left his sword and sandals under an altar of Zeus, telling Aithra, if a son was born, to send him to Athens as soon as he could lift the stone. This feat Theseus achieved when only sixteen: he was then already a youth of heroic size and strength, skilled with the lyre, and the inventor of scientific wrestling.

Choosing to travel to Athens by the Isthmus road, in order to prove himself against its dangers, he overthrew in single combat all the monsters and tyrants who made its travellers their prey. In Megara he killed the giant sow Phaia, and in Eleusis slew King Kerkyon, who slaughtered wayfarers by forcing them to wrestle to the death.

When he reached Athens, the witch Medea, his father's mistress, divined his parentage, and to secure her own son's succession persuaded Aigeus that this formidable youth was s threat to his throne. Aigeus prepared a poisoned cup to give him at a public feast; but Theseus displayed the sword in the nick of time. Aigeus dashed the cup from his lips and joyfully embraced him; the witch escaped in her chariot drawn by winged dragons.

Aigeus adopted Theseus as his heir amid public rejoicing; Pallas, the former heir, and his fifty sons, were killed by the young prince or driven into exile. Theseus won further honour by taming a wild bull which was ravaging the Marathon plain. Soon after, however, the City was plunged in mourning by the arrival of the Cretan tribute-vessel, with a demand for the boys and girls regularly sent off to be devoured by the Minotaur.

King Minos of Crete had been provided by Poseidon, in answer to a vow, with a magnificent bull for sacrifice, but had kept it for himself. As a punishment Aphrodite visited his queen, Pasiphae, with a monstrous passion for it, which she consummated within a hollow cow made for hrr by Daidalos the master-craftsman. Their offspring was the Minotaur, a being with a man's body and a bull's  head, who fed on human flesh. To conceal his shame, Minos had am impenetrable Labyrinth made by Daidalos, where he withdrew from the world, and in the heart of the maze concealed the Minotaur, introducing a supply of human vistims into his den.

The quota from Athens was seven youths and seven maidens. Among these went Theseus; according to most versions, by his own choice, though others say by lot. At his departure, his father charged him to change the black sail of the sacrificial ship to a white one, should he return alive.

On his arrival at Crete, Minos mocked his claim to be the son of Poseidon, and challenged him to retrieve a ring thrown in the sea. Theseus received from the sea-nymphs not only the ring, but the golden crown of Thetis. His exploit caused Minos' daughter, Ariadne, to fall in love with him; she gave him in secret a ball of thread with which to retrace his steps through the Labyrinth, and a sword to kill the Minotaur.

This deed accomplished, Theseus gathered the Athenian youths; but the girls were imprisoned apart. Theseus had prepared for this in Athens by training two brave  but effeminate-looking boys to take the place of two girl victims. These unbarred the women's quarters, and all the victims escaped to Athens, taking with them Ariadne, whom, however, Theseus abandoned on the island of Naxos. Dionysos, finding her there, became enamoured of her and made her the chief of his maenad train. Coming in sight of Athens, Theseus forgot to change the mourning sail for a white one, with the result that Aigeus in grief leaped off the Acropolis, or off a high rock into the sea. Theseus thus succeeded to the throne.

During his reign he is said to have unified Attica and given laws to its threes estates of landowner, farmer and craftsman. He was fame for his protection of ill-used servants and slaves, for whom his shrine remained a sanctuary down to historic times. Pirithoos, King of the Lapiths, raided his cattle as a challenge; but the young warriors took to each other in the field and swore eternal friendship. Theseus took part in the Kaledonian Boar-Hunt and the battle of the Lapiths and Kentaurs, and is to have emulated the feats of Herakles. In a foray against the Amazons he carried off their queen Hippolyta. Later her people in revenge invaded Attica; but Hippolyta took the field at Theseus' side, where an arrow killed her. Before this however she had born him a son, Hippolytos.

After her death, Theseus sent for and married Phaedra, King Minos' youngest daughter. Hippolytos was now a strong and beautiful youth, devoted to horsemanship and to the chaste cult of Artemis, his mother's tutelary deity. Soon Phaedra was seized with a consuming passion for him, and begged her old nurse to plead her cause. Upon his shock refusal she hanged herself, leaving a letter which accused him of her rape. Theseus, convinced by the fact of her death, drove out his son, and invoked the death-curse entrusted to him by his father Poseidon. As Hippolytos drove his chariot along the rocky coastal road, the god sent a huge wave, bearing on its crest a sea-bull, which stampeded his horses. His battered corpse was brought back to Theseus, who had learned the truth too late.

Therefore, Theseus' luck forsook him. While helping in Pirithoos' attempt to abduct Persephone, he was confined in the underworld in torment for four years, till Herakles released him. On his return he found Athens sunk into lawlessness and sedition. Failing to restore the rule of law, he cursed the city and set sail for Crete. On the way he stopped at Skyros, where through his host's treachery he fell off a high rock into the sea.

The Structure Of A Paragraph

The build of a paragraph will make it either effective or ineffective, for upon the structure depends its three main qualities of Unity, Coherence, and Emphasis.

a. Unity

Without unity the paragraph is very apt to lose its grip, for the average reader will not bother to discover the important point if it is obscured by others of less importance. Therefore it is necessary to see that each paragraph deals with one point and that nothing is introduced unless it bears upon that point or leads up to it.

When writing for any business purpose it is a good plan to state in summary order all the points to be made. This method makes for clear thinking, and it leads the mind straight along the track when writing. The result is that the writing tends to be succinct, and the ideas fall naturally into appropriate paragraphs.

This is especially important in writing advertising booklets where limitations of space impose a selection of ideas, and where the development of each idea must be powerful, short, and appropriate to the necessities of the case.

b. Coherence

It is not only necessary to see that all the sentences in a paragraph are pertinent to the subject of it. Those sentences must develop the subject or the idea in logical sequence. If they do not, the paragraph will not properly engage the attention of the reader and will miss its mark.

c. Emphasis

In all sorts of writing, but especially in sales literature, it is often necessary to emphasize some one important point in a paragraph. There are three ways of doing this, and each of the methods is especially useful in certain cases.

1. Emphasis by position is the most generally useful, and it should always be adopted when the paragraph is long.

The position of greatest emphasis is undoubtedly the centre of the paragraph, provided the emphasized point is centred on the line and isolated by special spacing above and below. This device should not be used more than once on a page, and then only when the matter and wording suggest its suitability.

2. Emphasis by repetition is most useful for impressing an idea on the mind of a reader—especially an idea that is a necessary preliminary to the introduction of a second idea.

3. Emphasis by contrast often convinces the uninterested man and the impatient man because it admits of quick and forceful arguments which impress immediately. The paragraph can be made like a burst of machine-gun fire, and in printed advertising the matter can be cut so short that it evolves into separate lines.

Once the rapid fire of contrast has attracted the interest of the reader, more detailed and closer argument may be used to clinch the matter. But the change must not be too great.

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The Archer And The Oil Merchant

Once there was a man who was a very good archer. He could shoot one arrow, hit the target, and then with another arrow, split the first arrow. He would go from village to village demonstrating his skills. And everybody would gather and applaud, because they had never seen anything like it.

One day, he came to a little village, shot an arrow from his bow, and everybody applauded, "Bravo, bravo." Then, after everybody had finished applauding, a voice in the back of the crowd called out, "Agh. It's only a matter of practice."

The archer heard that, and it disturbed him, but he continued on. He took another arrow, shot it, split the first arrow, and again everybody yelled, "Bravo, bravo, bravo." And the same voice said, "Agh. It's only a matter of practice."

After his show was over, the archer was upset. Here he was, demonstrating his greatest skill, and this man kept saying, "Only a matter of practice." So he went to the back of the crowd and found the man. He was carrying a bamboo pole, with one pot of oil hanging from the front and another from the back, trying to sell oil.

The master archer said to him, "How dare you say it's only a matter of practice? What do YOU do ? You sell oil. Look at me. People come to see me from far away because my aim is so good."

The man with the oil looked at the archer and said, "Agh, it's only a matter of practice. Now, let me show you."

So the oil merchant pulled out a bottle, put a coin that had a hole in it on top, and poured the oil from his pot through the small hole without spilling a drop. He turned to the archer and said, "Now, it's YOUR turn." And the archer didn't even try. He understood that it is a matter of practice.

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