“In the far north, where ther is snow, all bears are white. Novaya Zemlya is in the far north, and there is always snow. What colour are the bears there?”
“There are different sorts of bears.”
The syllogism was repeated.
“I don’t know. I’ve seen a black bear. I’ve never seen any others . . . Each locality has its own animals: if it’s white, they will be white; if it’s yellow, they will be yellow.”
“But what kind of bears are there in Novaya Zemlya?”
“We always speak only of what we see; we don’t talk about what we haven’t seen.”
“But what do my words imply?” The syllogism was again repeated.
“Well, it’s like this: our tsar isn’t like yours, and yours isn’t like ours. Your words can be answered only by someone who was there, and if a person wasn’t there, he can’t say anything on the basis of your words.”
“But on the basis of my words, ‘in the north, where there is always snow, the bears are white,” can you gather what kind of bears there are in Novaya Zemlya?”
“If a man was sixty or eighty and had seen a white bear and had told about it, he could be believed, but I’ve never seen one and hence I can’t say. That’s my last word. Those who saw can tell, and those who ddidn’t see can’t say anything.”
editing: d.d.manias