WHY THEY WENT TO WAR
A certain king sent to another king, saying : ' Send me a white pig with a blue tail, or else ' The other, in great rage, replied : ' I have not got one ; and if I had — ' On this weighty cause they went to war. After they had exhausted their armies and resources and laid waste their kingdoms, they began to desire peace; but, before this could be secured, it was necessary that the insulting language that "led to the trouble should be explained. ' What could you mean,' asked the second king of the first, 'by saying, " Send me a white pig with a blue tail, or else—' ? " c Why,' said the other, ' I meant a white pig with a blue tail, or else some other color. But what could you mean by saying, " I have not got one, and if I had — " ? ' ' Why, of course, if I had it I should have sent it to you.' The explanation was satisfactory, and peace was accordingly concluded. Most quarrels (remarks the Aye Maria) are quite as foolish and needless as the war about the white pig with the blue tail.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZT19090311.2.61.6
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New Zealand Tablet, Volume 11, Issue 10, 11 March 1909, Page 398
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191WHY THEY WENT TO WAR New Zealand Tablet, Volume 11, Issue 10, 11 March 1909, Page 398
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