If your eyes are not deceived by the mirage do not be proud of the sharpness of your understanding. It may be your freedom from this optical illusion is due to the imperfectness of your thirst.
Two years ago I removed most of my fish from a tiny pond one late autumn day, and put them in a larger pond.
The next spring, I found a fish left behind.
For over two years I have tried to catch it, and for two years it evaded me, living alone in a tiny universe by my back stoop, surviving under thick ice in January, brutal warmth in July. It had not seen another fish for over two years.
Until last night. Under the cover of a cloudy wintry night, I managed to slip a net under it.
And now it swims with other fish in the larger pond, and while it may not make a difference to the fish (though I suspect it does), it certainly makes a difference to me.
How much of the universe exists beyond what we imagine, and how much of what we imagine does not really exist?
It's a more difficult question than we recognize.