There was once a farmer who had an old jackass named Dapple.  Jackasses aren't renowned for their intelligence, so it is not too surprising that old Dapple blundered into a well one day.
    "I've fallen and I can't get out!" brayed Dapple desperately.
    The farmer came running immediately.
    "Oh, dear!" he said.  "You've fallen into the well."
    "Well, duh!" said Dapple.  "What are you going to do to get me out?"
    The farmer thought for a moment and ran back to the farmhouse.
    "Ah," thought Dapple.  "Help is on the way.  He's going to get a rope and a tractor or something."
    When the farmer returned a few minutes later, he was holding a book which he proceeded to toss down the well.
    "There!" he said smugly.  "Read that!"
    The name of the book was The Parable of the Cube Dwellers.
    "Excuse me?" brayed Dapple querulously.  "What is this, and how is it supposed to get me out of here?"
    "Just read it," said the farmer.  "You'll see!"

    So Dapple started reading.
    "These days, it is fashionable to think that you ought to have a job that you love," began the book.  "Well, GET OVER IT!  It's not going to happen!  You have bills to pay!  We hold your loved ones hostage!  You're going to be stuck in that depressing, soul-sucking job until you die or we fire you!  And remember:  if you don't look like you're enjoying your job, we may fire you.  So you might as well enjoy it!  So enjoy it!  The choice is yours."
    "Gosh!" thought Dapple.  "I don't see how this helps at all."
    But he kept on reading.  The book was about bored, stressed-out office workers who hated their jobs.  They learned that they could have a good time while doing their boring, stressful jobs.
    "Hmm," thought Dapple.  "Maybe the farmer can explain this to me."

    "Farmer!" called Dapple.  "May I ask you a couple of questions about this book?"
    "Certainly!" said the farmer.
    "First of all, why do they call it a parable?  I've always thought of parables as stories that made some moral or religious point by analogy."
    "Exactly," said the farmer.
    "For example," continued Dapple, "there's The Prodigal Son in the Bible.  That's the story about the father who has two sons, one who is hardworking and virtuous and the other who is lazy, foolish, and wasteful.  Although the father is happy with the virtuous son, he is even happier when the son who has gone astray repents and comes home.  This story is supposed to show how happy God is to welcome back repentant sinners.  Um, how is this 'Cube Dwellers' thing a parable?"
    "Well, it's made up!  It's about unhappy ciphers who become happy ciphers.  But they're fictitious!  By analogy real unhappy ciphers can become happy ciphers.  Just like them!  See?"
    "Uh, not exactly," confessed Dapple.  "But let's let that one pass.  I have a more important question.  How is this thing supposed to get me out of the well?"
    "You have missed the point, haven't you?" chided the farmer.  "It isn't supposed to get you out of the well.  You aren't going to get out of the well!  But you can learn to be happy while you starve to death down there.  Now, do you see how widely applicable this parable is?"
    Dapple didn't, but he did have an idea.  He ate the book.  It was so full of crap that, on his next bowel movement, he filled the entire well and clambered out.
    "I think," said Dapple as he kicked the shit out of the farmer, "that we have some serious confusion as to exactly whom the jackass is.  Now, where can I find the author of that book?"