aron’s Pet Bug

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

The Baron’s sanctuary was his private office in Lilliland Castle where he went to make all his important decisions about the future and well being of Lilliland.

Professor Hamblin was his chief advisor on almost all matters, but not every matter. On the Baron’s finely carved executive desk sat a small bug that no one could see when he or she was sitting in front of the desk. The bug was a rather plain bug but the cleaning crew had strict orders from the Baron himself not to disturb the bug. The bug survived on the crumbs left from the Baron’s special cookies that he kept handy.

When the Baron had a serious conference about Lilliland with business leaders and statesmen, he noticed that the bug appeared to stop munching and seemed to listen to the conversation. At the end of the meeting the bug would either move to the Baron’s right side or left side. If the Baron was happy with the business deal proposed, the right side meant “yes,” and the left side meant “no.” The bug’s movements and the Baron’s decisions seemed to be in agreement.

The Baron was somewhat ashamed to mention that the bug helped make important decisions for Lilliland. It was the Baron’s stern secret that he kept away from everyone. No one knew.

One day the Baron thought that he must be losing his ability to make good decisions for Lilliland. The businessmen who were meeting with the Baron wanted to sell the country a ferryboat that would cross over the middle of Castle Lake. Since the lake was four miles wide the boat had to be well built. The Baron liked the idea and saw the boat plans and decided to build it after a few trial crossings on Castle Lake. But the bug on the Baron’s desk did not like the idea and moved to the Baron’s left side, meaning “No, bad idea.” The Baron thought that the bug was only and bug and knew nothing about boats. The deal was set and during the first trial run of the ferryboat crossing, the boat sank.

The Baron was shocked about the boat sinking since the lake water was unusually calm. But it sank anyway. Nobody was hurt but the boat was lost.

The Baron was heard to be muttering to himself in his private office that he was sure the bug was wrong.

The Baron kept the bug secret for many years until one day he was speaking with a bug expert who said that the bug probably reacted to the person’s sweat. Sweat meant untruthfulness and lack of sweat meant truthfulness.