| Qin: Hearing Aid "Do you know how many times I’ve come here?" "Sorry. I’ve lost count." "Me too." They were out back, seated by the small pond formed by a spring tricking out of the rocky mountainside. Where the water overflowed the pond into the natural rill on its way down the mountain, it made an almost inaudible burbling. "And here you are yet again." Lao-Tze smiled at him. "All those times. It was never easy coming here, you know." "Of course." "And every time..." He laughed. "I’d storm off, tromping down your silly old trail, ranting about how you never talked to me." "Yes. I can still hear your. 'Old fool! Tells dirty jokes, speaks in riddles, pretentious prattle!'" "The jokes were the big problem. So out of place. Mocking, I thought, my pain, not to mention the pain of the world." "Which of course cannot be mocked, ever. So why did you come back? Have you heard the one about the Republican with two cocks?" "I came back because I finally figured out the problem was me, not you. You were talking to me, all right. I didn’t know how to listen." Lao-Tze smiled broadly. "Let's practice. Ready? Here we go: This guy takes a girl out for a long drive, then he parks, and says, 'Fuck?' 'Well,' she says, 'I usually don't on the first date, but you talked me into it...'" Back to Qin
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