met a lot. And I've heard from people who
are there."

"And are their reports enthusiastic?"

"Well--" The plain man hesitated.

"Answer me. Are their reports enthusiastic?" the traveller insisted,
rather bullyingly.

"Not very," the plain man admitted. "Some say it's very disappointing.
And some say it's much like other towns. Every one says the climate
has grave drawbacks."

The traveller demanded:

"Then why are you going there?"

Said the plain man:

"It never occurred to me to ask why. As I say, Timbuctoo's supposed to
be--"

"Supposed by whom?"

"Well--generally supposed," said the plain man, limply.

"Not by the people who've been there?" the traveller persevered, with
obstinacy.

"Perhaps not," breathed the plain man. "But it's generally supposed--"
He faltered. There was a silence, which was broken by the
traveller, who inquired:

"Any interesting places en route?"

"I don't know. I never troubled about that," said the plain man.

"But do you mean to tell me," the traveller exclaimed, "that you are
putting yourself to all this trouble, peril, and expense of trains and
steamers and camel-back without having asked yourself why, and without
having satisfied yourself that the thing was worth while, and without
having even ascertained the most agreeable route?"

Said the plain man, weakly:

"I just had to start for somewhere, so I started for Timbuctoo."

Said the traveller:

"Well, I'm of a forgiving disposition. Shake hands."

III

The two individuals in the foregoing parable were worrying each other
with fundamental questions. And what makes the parable unrealistic is
the improbability of real individuals ever doing any such thing. If
the plain man, for instance, has almost ceased to deal in fundamental
questions in these days, the reason is not difficult to find. The
reason lies in the modern perception that fundamental questions are
getting very hard to answer. In a former time a dogmatic answer was
ready waiting for every fundamental question. You asked the question,
but before you asked it you knew the answer, and so there was no
argument and nearly no anxiety. In that former time a mere child could
glance at your conduct and tell you with certainty exactly what you
would be doing and how you would be feeling ten thousand years hence,
if you persisted in the said conduct. But knowledge has advanced since
then, and the inconvenience of increased knowledge is that it
intensi