Once there were four wise men in the east, scholars and astronomers, living in a tower.  Three of them spent all their time at the top of the tower, scanning the sky and consulting their learned texts.  The fourth tried diligently to keep the tower clean and ready for study, and spent all his time at the bottom of the tower, ordering the servants to stay ahead of the mud, dust, and cobwebs.  One night the three wise men said, "We're off to the west, to follow the new star!"  The fourth wise man said, "Star, what star?"  May you have stars in your eyes, even if there's mud on your shoes.