The Parable of the Anonymous Names

Josh lives.  Josh walks.  Josh breathes.  Josh speaks. 

One day while teaching, Josh was asked, ”Teacher, everything of value that the head of the CIA does is by nature private.  How can a confirmation hearing for the head of the CIA be public?”

Josh spoke thus:

An informant and a double agent met on an unlit street corner.

The informant was anonymous.  The identity of the double agent was unknown.

They met to exchange information.

The anonymous informant occupied a dark doorway.  The double agent hid in a lightless alley.  The doorway and the alleyway were shrouded in heavy fog.  The anonymous informant and the double agent spoke in whispers.  Their vapor added almost imperceptibly to the fog.  Their voices added almost imperceptibly to the sounds of the city.

“I have a name for you,” the anonymous informant told the double agent.

Far away the insistence of a siren rose and receded.

“What will you give me in exchange?” the anonymous informant asked the double agent.

The silhouettes of two lovers passed, laughing lustily under their chilled breath.  Their arms were locked, and their shoulders rubbed expectantly.

“Tell me the name, and I will tell you what it's worth,” the double agent told the anonymous informant.

“The name will have no worth once it’s known,” the anonymous informant said.

“Then I can offer you nothing of value in return,” the double agent told the anonymous informant.

A cat yowled at the back of the alley.

“Pay me, and the name will have value,” the anonymous informant promised, “Be sure not to undervalue the name.”

From the window above the anonymous informant a second cat yowled in answer to the alley cat.

The double agent now knew the name that the anonymous informant wanted to sell.  The double agent needed that name to remain a secret.

“I will give you a name to counter your name,” the double agent told the anonymous informant.

From a nearby building, a trumpet played a torch song.  This was a signal to the anonymous informant that the anonymous informant was being shadowed.

“If the names cancel out,” the anonymous informant told the double agent, “Then I will have no name for you.”

A nearby saxophone played counterpoint to the trumpet’s torch song.  This was a signal to the double agent that the double agent's cover would not soon dissipate.

“This is how the game is played,” the double agent told the anonymous informant.

An airplane in an embrace of heavy cloud above set course for Lisbon.

“What is the name that cancels the name I have for you?” the anonymous informant asked.

“Yours,” the double agent replied.