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THE SIXTEENTH-CENTURY prophet generally predicted war, death, natural disasters – monumental events he augured primarily through astrological calculations. But lovers of Nostradamus cherish the little story of the farmer, the white pig and the black pig. Nostradamus was invited to a feast by a rich farmer, skeptical of the prophet’s abilities. The farmer had two pigs ready to serve his guests, he told Nostradamus, a white pig and a black pig. Which would be presented at dinner? “The black pig,” Nostradamus replied. The farmer went into the kitchen and ordered the chef to serve the white pig. During the course of the feast the farmer summoned his chef and asked which pig the guests were consuming. “When my back was turned a dog carried off the carcass of the white pig,” he confessed. “So I served the black pig.” The story happens to be true but sounds like a fable. The moral might be: Seers may see large and seers may see small.  |