	Neither a parable nor any other metaphor "says one thing and means another." A parable is a particular way of speaking, not a code, and what it means is what it says. Matthew Black , Models and Metaphors: Studies in Language and Philosophy (1962)

At its simplest the parable is a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought. C.H. Dodd Parables of the Kingdom (London: Collins, rev. edn, 1961) 16

What is a parable?