Español / B1
Los sentidos
Un niño le contó a su padre lo que había pensado el día anterior.
—Estuve contando los sentidos: oír, oler, distinguir los sabores, tocar y ver. Son cinco, y mi profesor asegura que no hay más. Pero, papá, ¿dónde pongo el sentido común?
El sentido común es la capacidad de pensar y actuar bien.
—Tu profesor tiene razón —respondió el padre—. Te ha dado la regla general. Ese otro sentido, el común, es una capacidad que no todos tienen.
El niño todavía tenía una duda.
—¿Por qué lo llaman «común», entonces?
—Porque todos deberían tenerlo, no porque todos lo tengan.
English summary · includes the ending
A child tells his father that he worked hard the previous day to count the senses. He lists hearing, smell, taste, touch and sight. His teacher, Don Fortún, says that there are only five. However, the child has thought of another expression: common sense. He asks where that belongs in the list.
The father says that the teacher is right and has explained the general rule. Common sense is a different kind of ability, and possessing it is more of an exception.
This answer leaves the child with a further question. If that ability is exceptional, why do people call it common? The father replies that everyone ought to have it, rather than everyone actually having it.
The short exchange ends with this distinction between a useful quality that people should share and the less satisfactory reality. The name expresses an expectation, not a fact about everybody.
Adapted for Lejrbål from the credited source.
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