An old story, exact origins unknown.
There was a man who was wandering the countryside, down on his luck. Penniless and illiterate, his prospects seemed dim. But he was a very clever man, despite his lack of formal education.
The man came to a small hamlet in a mountain valley. All of the residents of this town were, like the man, illiterate, but not nearly so clever. The man saw his opportunity.
He passed himself off as being educated and literate. The illiterate townspeople were thrilled and honored to have him in their midst. They came to him for advice, to settle disputes, to soak up his wisdom. Soon he was made mayor.
One hot summer day the man was making a speech to the populace in the town square. He had some sheets of paper with words printed on them in fornt of him, to make it appear that he was "reading" from a speech he had "written." The townspeople listened, rapt, to his insightful and wise oratory.
As luck would have it, though, this particular day there was a stranger passing through the town. This stranger, much to our hero's dismay, actually did know how to read. And the stranger noticed that the mayor's "speech" was upside-down on the podium!
The stranger exposed the mayor as a charlatan, telling the people, "Look! The paper's upside down! He's a fraud -- he's as illiterate as all of you!"
Now a less clever man would probably have ended up tarred, feathered, and run out of town on a rail. But our hero was no ordinary illiterate. Completely unfuffled, he scoffed in response, "If one knows how to read, why should it matter if the paper is upside down or right-side-up?"
The townspeople were once again enthralled with their mayor's intelligence and wisdom and immediately set upon the stranger and chased him from the town.
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