A friend of mine sent me some seeds

Of a giant calabash, which I sowed

Piling up trouble on my own head.

The fruit, when fully grown,

Could contain a whole fifty stones

Of anything you want. First I used it

To contain water, but it was so heavy

That I could not lift it by myself. So,

I cut it in two to make the parts

Into drinking vessels, but the dried shells

Were too wide and unstable

And would not hold the liquor;

At last, I have got nothing else

But hugely useless burden! Because

Of their uselessness, in the reckless mood,

I knocked them to pieces; that was

The only thing which had crossed my mind.

Upon hearing the story, my friend mocked me,

Saying, "You are foolish indeed in the use

Of what is huge. Having the calabashes

Large enough to hold a round fifty stones,

Why do you not think of making large buoys,

By means of which you could have floated

Over the lakes and rafted downstream

Instead of giving yourself the grief of finding

That they were useless for holding anything.

Your mind would seem to have been closed

Against all intelligence and knack, poor man!