There's a curious story about a group of African boys that had to cross a desert. Each one carried their own supply of water using ostrich egg shells as their water canteens.
Ignoring the danger of not saving the water, one of the boys drank at every chance he could and before he realized it he ran out of water.
To avoid the embarrassment of not being responsible with his water, he did what he could to avoid showing his empty egg shell to the rest and he pretended to not be thirsty for the rest of the journey.
Eventually everybody else ran out of water too, and as they complained of their thirst, they could not understand how that other boy didn't give any signs of trouble. They made all sorts of mental conclusions:
- He had a great tolerance and stamina so the heat didn't bother him.
- He was saving water for the rest in case the travel became longer.
- He had been wiser about saving his water than the others and hadn't run out yet.
By the time they reached their destination, his fame and courage had grown so much that he was immediately appointed tribal leader. Nobody ever knew that his legendary water canteen had only been an empty egg shell.
