What The Story Means

            I met an old man.
            “I’ll tell you a story,” he said. “A man in Chicago decided to undertake a daring journey, like Magellan. For eighteen years he prepared by confining himself to the local library. When he had read every piece of paper to be found in the building, he walked outside and did a somersault in the street. Only a lonely crow saw him do it.
            “Now let me tell you what this story means. Do you notice how your shirt is coming untucked on the side?”
            I nodded, tucking it in.
            “That is what the story means.”