Among the youth of the country, there began a resurgence of interest in food. Many different diet theories were offered, telling what was best to eat, and how and when to eat it. And with these theories came fierce loyalties, for eating is a very serious subject.'

One young man said 'Whole grains only, with fruit and nuts.'His girl friend added ' Vegetables and fruits don't mix.' Her roommate believed 'No vitamin C, but lots of D and E.' And her cousin advised 'Fast one day out of every ten.' And she had a friend who worked in a health food store, who said 'Mineral are the key.'

Some discovered miraculous healing properties in certain food, and for a time there were shortages of figs, apricot kernels, yak, butter, sawdust and earthworms. But if these food could be modified to bring out all their naturally goodness, they might be even better. One young man read that vitamins are trapped within the cell walls of food, and he began to prepare his meals with a blender. He blended bread, fruit and cheese with wheat germ, kelp and strawberry yoghurt, and each of his meals came out a nutritious grey glue.

Then the dietary habits became more exotic. One very serious man learned that certain yogis can exist on air alone; and he tried it for a time. He had a close friend who learned of an ancient practice of turning the stomach inside-out to improved digestive secretions. But he was forced to stop when the neighbours complained of the unusual sounds.

Now, the confusion was caused by the fact that each theory was a little bit true. And people changed from diet to diet and felt guilty because they continued to like the things they weren't supposed to. Yet their diet loyalties remained strong and, as these things go, each one believed his current diet to be the panacea for all makind. For all the debates heard throughout the land, the most frequent and heated was the question of vegetarian - versus-meat.

One day, a wise man arrived in the city. A crowd gathered around him and he was asked questions. He was asked about Mind, Soul, God, Stars, Love, Fate, and the significance of the Sanskrit language. These were all noncontroversial topics.Then a young man asked 'Should I eat meat? I know it is not as good as vegetables.'

The wise man replied 'Then don't eat it.' And there was a murmur of approval from the vegetarians in the crowd.

Then another young man rose and said 'I like meat and I feel fine when I eat it.'

The wise man said 'Fine, then eat it.' And there was a murmur of approval form the meat lovers. Then the voice became louder and the debate started anew.

Just then the wise man started to laugh. At first it was a chuckle that softened the serious crowd so that several grinning faces were seen. And the sight of the wise man sitting on the little dias laughing was so infectious that the crowd began to laugh with him. As it often happens, there was one among the crowd that had an especially funny laugh, and this so ticked the wise man that he began to shake up and down until he nearly fell off his seat. This so pleased the crowd that an enormous peal of laughter arose and echoed through the streets. And passers-by, without knowledge of what had caused it, were so affected by the pleasing sound that they stopped and joined in, until a great throng of laughing people had gathered.

The sight and the sound of so many people enjoying themselves made the wise man... Well, it went on and on until not one among them could remember having such a nice time. But the nicest thing of all was, on that day nobody had indigestion.