I came across this very-short-story on the internet, and I am sharing it with all here. Comments, even in the form of anecdotes are welcome!
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A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy.
Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."
Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?"
Sure," said the farmer.
And with that he let out a whistle,"Here,Dolly!" he called.
But from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.
As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up....
I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.
The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need Someone who understands."
The world is full of people who need someone who understands.
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A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy.
Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies."
Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "these puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy dropped his head for a moment. Then reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?"
Sure," said the farmer.
And with that he let out a whistle,"Here,Dolly!" he called.
But from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur. The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight.
As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared; this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up....
I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt.
The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would."
With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specially made shoe. Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need Someone who understands."
The world is full of people who need someone who understands.
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ReplyDeleteOne of my favourite stories. Your readers will find more such heartwarmers in the Chicken soup for the soul series of books. The point is, alas, that lots of people pretend to appreciate such stories, but few seem to take them to heart and mend their ways, else the world would have been a far better place already!
ReplyDeleteSir
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ReplyDeleteWell, indeed a great story you have chosen.It shows that you have the capability to choice.But before giving my opinion on the story I want to point out a flaw of yours.As you have said to me before that what is the point in "cut,copy and paste" ? At the end you should have given your own point-of-view on this mesmerizing story. Have you yourself found out something ? I myself have nothing to say , coz my point would be rather insulting to what Sir has said to this story. I just wanna say that this boy reflects the mentalities of such few people in this world for whom the world is still a "Mother Earth" to us. We feel like home because of these kind of people,who understand others' incapabilities. Majority of us(including myself and perhaps you) only know how to insult others' incapabilities and have the least knowledge to understand what others feel about that insult or better-to-say taunt . Nobody in the world is perfect, even the prodigies like Vivekananda,Tagore,Galileo,Vinci even Netaji,Einstein,Newton or even Mahatma Gandhi. They are like GOD in their own points-of-view or their own way but,alas,still people intend to criticize them , try to find their flaws.My point-of-view may seem a little bit of disturbing to you but it is, I am sorry to say a vital point in a person's life .May be you can put a light on this. What more ? Eagerly waiting to see your view on this . Till then Sionara !
ReplyDelete@ Motu: Thanks for commenting. I get your point. Your question has already been answered by Sir earlier. Read it! True empathy is rare. And we are surrounded by callous and greedy people everywhere. But I think there's still a lot of hope and reason to be happy. Although people criticize and speak ill of the prodigies you mentioned above, Gandhi is still believed to be the Father of our nation and Tagore, Vivekananda, Ramakrishna, Upagupta and Kabir are still worshiped as God by countless people in Bengal and India. All these greats were the non-greedy types, who preached humanity, compassion, devotion, simplicity, unity. I hope you understand my point.
ReplyDeleteTagore once said that the birth of every human child is proof that God has not yet lost faith on mankind!