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At about 3.00am in the morning of sunday December 19th, 1993, 67 years old Arch Bishop Dogmatus jumped up from his bed covered in sweat like the chief baker in a local bakery. He found himself screaming "Plato mentitus es tu dicas, stultus" which is translated "Plato you lied, you are a fool for saying that". Deacon Diana was woken up by the terrific shouts of her husband. "Honey, your scream really scared me" she said. At this point, Arch bishop Dogmatus was recovering from the shock of his nightmare. "I saw Plato in my dreams, it was a terrible and meaningless dream Diana" Dogmatus said. "Plato?" questioned Diana. "Yes Plato the ancient Greek philosopher" the Arch bishop replied. "Would you please tell me about the dream, I am very curious" said Diana. Dogmatus took a deep breath and began:

I found myself close to an ancient castle in a city I guessed to be Rome. The castle was of the manner of those built in the days of Alexander the Great. As I stood amazed at the magnanimity of the castle, I saw a crowd of people some yards away from me. They were gathered under a mustard tree that stood adjacent the great castle. The crowd seemed to circumference a man at its core. My curiousity was aroused like the manhood of teenagers when they want to urinate, so I walked towards the crowd to grace the fascinating scene. My instinct did not fail me, for at the core of the crowd, I found an old man who had thick and white beards as of the manner of a wool. The old man looked very familiar, but I was sure he was not one of the reverend fathers who taught me while at the seminary in Toronto and Denmark. As I observed his face closely, at once I recognised the old man to be Plato. I knew it was Plato because I had seen his pictures several times in one old encyclopaedia of religion in my study room. I had read in that encyclopaedia that Plato was one of the greatest philosophers of all time. So I became more curious to hear from the grand master philosopher. I learnt from a certain boy in the crowd that the old man had told them several wisdom filled tales before my arrival, so I patiently waited for a fresh tale, proverb or a kind of parable. All I wanted was to become wiser.

At last, Plato or should I say the old man who looked like Plato told us a parable. The language with which he spoke was ancient Latin. I had a slight difficulty in understanding the language but I was still able to comprehend everything he said. Plato began "Filii, auditeme: Discite a me sapientiae" which is translated "Listen to me my children, learn from my wisdom". On uttering those words, a deafening silence pervaded the atmosphere. Everyone listened attentively as though a lucky winner of a raffle draw was to be announced. The man told a parable about a certain shepherd who had a thousand flock. The shepherd loved his flock so much that he would risk his life just to safe his flock. The flock flourish because they were appropriately catered for by the shepherd and his servants.

One day, a gang of mighty wolves broke into the flock and began to massacre the sheep. Many of the sheep were killed and several others were wounded. So the servants of the shepherd made sincere efforts to arrest the wolves but the shepherd stopped them. The shepherd told the servants that his ways were not the ways of the servants. He told his servants that the appointed time was yet to come. The shepherd said he wanted the sheep to learn endurance and patience which were two great virtues in life. The shepherd permitted the gang of wolves to continue with their terrorism and destruction. He promised and vowed that at the appointed day the wolves would be brutally killed and justice would be done. The shepherd further promised that he would lead his flock to a mountain where there shall be plenty green grasses and water for the flock. On that mountain, there shall not be threat of wolves and the flock would be everlastingly safe and happy. When Plato finished his story, he spoke the latin words "Filii auditeme: Discite a me sapientiae" which is translated "listen to me my children, learn from my wisdom". Then he concluded that the shepherd was the wisest and most caring shepherd in the world.

When Plato finished his parable, there was murmuring in the crowd as it was expected. I guessed the murmuring resulted from doubts which plagued the queer parable Plato had told them. I was also very uncomfortable with the parable especially the conclusion that the shepherd was the wisest and most caring shepherd in the world. When it was time to ask questions, I was the first person to challenge Plato, my intention was to flaw and ridicule the illogicalities in Plato's parable. I was certain that my challenge would make Plato lost his status as one of the wisest philosopher of all time.

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