Once there was a king.

And he was approached by a man who sought repentance for acts of gossip.

Easy says the king —

Just take this pillowcase full of feathers and scatter them throughout the town.

Wow, that is easy, thinks the man.

And when he’s done scattering the feathers, the man returns to report back to the king—

I have scattered the feathers to every corner near and far in this town, he says.

Great! says the king, then adds—

Now go back through the town and collect each and every feather.

For that is the way our words spread in this world.