The Ocean

A young man who lived in a small inland village in Greece had never been to the ocean and wanted to learn about it.  He spent hours and hours in quiet libraries reading books that explained and described it and he learned many things about it.  He could describe its size, name the creatures that lived in it, and he even knew the colors the setting sun cast on it at the end of the day.  His mind was filled with all sorts of wonderful impressions and images of this thing called ocean.

Then one day, he was invited to take a journey to the coast.  When he arrived, the sun was setting over the water.  The sound of the breakers, and the splashing foam was magnificently beautiful.  He ran down to where it lapped against the shore, dipped his hands into it, and brought some of the salty water to his lips.  Taking off his shoes, he walked into the ocean, and felt the water gently pull the sand out from under his feet.  As the water swirled around his legs, and the rich colored sunlight danced off the water into his eyes, he thought to himself, "So this is the ocean!"

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