It was October and the Indians on a remote reservation asked their new
Chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild. Since the Chief
grew up in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets.
When he looked at the sky he couldn’t tell what the winter was going to
be like.
Nevertheless, to be on the safe side he told his tribe that the winter
was indeed going to be cold and that the members of the village should
collect firewood to be prepared. But being a practical leader, after
several days he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the
National Weather Service and asked, “Is the coming winter going to be
cold?” “It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold,” the
meteorologist at the weather service responded. So the Chief went back
to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be
prepared.
A week later he called the National Weather Service again. “Does it
still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?” “Yes,” the man at
National Weather Service again replied, “it’s going to be a very cold
winter.” The Chief again went back to his people and ordered them to
collect every scrap of firewood they could find.
Two weeks later the Chief called the National Weather Service again.
“Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?”
“Absolutely,” the man replied. “It’s looking more and more like it is
going to be one of the coldest winters ever.” “How can you be so sure?”
the Chief asked. The weatherman replied, “The Indians are collecting
firewood like crazy.”
