Twoseriously ill men occupied the same hospital room. One man wasallowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluidsfrom his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The otherman had to spend all his time flat on his back.

Themen talked for hours on end. They spoke of their families, theirhomes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, andwhere they had been on vacation. Every afternoon when the man in thebed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time bydescribing to his roommate all the things he could see outside thewindow.

Theman in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where hisworld would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and colorof the outside world. The man had said the window overlooked a parkwith a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water whilechildren sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amidflowers of every color of the rainbow, and a fine view of the cityskyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the windowdescribed all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side ofthe room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

Onewarm afternoon, unexpectedly, an alien thought entered the otherman’s head: Why should he have all the pleasure of seeingeverything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. Asthe thought fermented,the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missedseeing more sights, his envy soon turned him sour. He began to broodand found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window—andthat thought now controlled his life.

Lateone night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the windowbegan to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The otherman watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the windowgroped for the button to call for help. Listening from across theroom, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would havebrought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughingand choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, therewas only silence—deathly silence.

Thefollowing morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for theirbaths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, shewas saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away. Assoon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be movednext to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and aftermaking sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly,painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look.Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strainedto slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced ablank wall.

Theman asked the nurse what could have compelled his deceased roommatewho had described such wonderful things outside this window. Thenurse responded that the man was blind and could not even see thewall. She said, "Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you."

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