The People Who Can’t Smell–A Re-post

Tonight I’m re-posting a story (with some revision) which I wrote a few years ago here at A Christian Worldview of Fiction. It seems appropriate as a follow-up to yesterday’s article, “God Is Not Benevolent.”

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Once upon a time in a country far, far away, tucked into an isolated valley, there lived the Tsiehtas, a group of people who celebrating their four senses. They could see and hear and feel and taste, but when it came to smell . . . well, they regarded such a thing as a fantasy.

One day a visitor from neighboring Htiaf arrived in the valley. He admired the quaint cottages and well-kept lawns and beautiful gardens. But when he stopped beside a rose bush and pressed his nose to a blossom, a smile came over his face.

“This is the most fragrant flower I’ve ever found,” he said. “You have a real treasure in your valley.”

The Tsiehtas looked at the visitor suspiciously. “No offense, sir,” said the lord high counselor, “but there is no such thing as ‘fragrant.’ Certainly we appreciate the beauty of the blossoms, and for that reason we treasure our roses.”

“No fragrance? Of course there’s a fragrance. A sweet, rich scent that lingers even after I move to another part of the garden.”

“Ha-ha! You have a rich imagination … unless you are trying to intentionally propagate deception.”

A crowd begin to gather.

The visitor raised his voice. “Please believe me. I’m not making this up. The scent is so strong it overpowers that of the newly cut grass.”

“You think grass has a scent, too?” the lord high counselor said.

The crowd laughed, but one small boy dropped to his knees and buried his face in the grass. “I do think I smell something,” came his muffled voice.

“Nonsense and fairy tales. We have no evidence that ‘scent’ exists,” said the lord high counselor. “Show me this fragrance you speak of.”

“How can I show you that which is invisible?”

“And how can we believe in something without any proof?”

“I’m your proof! And so is my young friend here.” The visitor patted the little boy’s shoulder. “The fact that we can smell these scents is evidence they exist.”

“Hardly. Another visitor might arrive tomorrow and tell us the sun smells disgusting. Should we believe him, too?”

The visitor turned toward the youth on his knees in the grass. “What about this boy, one of your own?”

“You said yourself–he’s a boy. He’ll outgrow his fantasy like the rest of us did.”

“Are you saying you used to believe you could smell?”

“Ha-ha, of course not. It was a childish phase. We soon learned to depend on our eyes and ears, our taste and touch. Those are the things that are reliable. Why this fragrance you speak of, you admit you don’t smell it consistently.”

“Of course not. Scent is carried on the wind and it might be stronger depending on where you’re standing.”

The lord high counselor frowned. “Now you’re just making things up. You have no proof, no facts, just a myth you’re trying to foist on the rest of us. I think it’s time you leave.”

Sadly the visitor from Htiaf turned away. “How can I convince the Tsiehtas scent is real when they won’t believe what I’m telling them? What would it take to get their smell receptors working again?”