There once came to a small town a certain man renowned throughout the
country for his general wisdom and his knowledge of social philosophy. A
meeting was arranged, so that the inhabitants might learn something of
the great social questions of the day. The majority of the townsfolk
went to the meeting, and were well rewarded, for the social philosopher
spoke at great length. Throughout his address, he continually referred
to Demos and never without some touch of scorn. These contemptuous
references to Demos were apparently understood and approved of by all
present, with one strange exception.
For there was one fellow at this meeting who never should have been
there, a wild, half-witted fellow, noted throughout the town as an idler
and one given over to foolish laughter and odd scraps of song. Now this
fool, instead of holding his peace, immediately began to denounce the
learned man because he had spoken of Demos.
‘Who is this Demos?’--the fool went about crying. ‘I have been in the
place all my life and I have never met him. I know old Dan the fiddler
and Barty the cobbler and his lame brother and Little Snike who gets
drunk on wet days and Fat Meg and her lasses and Blind Peter and the
other two beggars and Long John the Watchman and hundreds more. But I
never met Demos here!’ And so he went on for days, until everybody in
the place was chaffing him.