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stare 25-12-2006, 04:12   #1
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Domyślnie A Christmas Tale

I'm not really a big fan of Paulo Coelho, but it's Christmas and there probably won't be a better time to quote one of his stories besides, this is not exactly his story, as I believe he based in on an existing tale... anyway, what better time than Christmas to be telling "chicken-soup-for-the-soul" kind of stories?
enjoy

JosÄ‚Å*'s sandals

A long time ago, so many years ago that we can no longer remember the
exact date, there lived in a village in the south of Brazil a little
seven-year-old boy called JosÄ‚Å*. He had lost his parents when he was
very, very young and had been adopted by a miserly aunt who, even though
she had lots of money, spent almost nothing on her nephew. JosÄ‚Å*, having
never known the meaning of love, assumed that this was simply the way
life was and so it didn't bother him at all.

They lived in an extremely affluent neighbourhood, but the aunt
persuaded the head teacher of the local school to take on her nephew for
only a tenth of the normal tuition fee, threatening to complain to the
Prefect if he declined her offer. The head teacher had no option but to
agree; however, he instructed the teachers to take every opportunity to
humiliate JosÄ‚Å* in the hope that he would misbehave and give them a
pretext for expelling him. JosÄ‚Å*, having never known love, assumed that
this was simply the way life was and so it didn't bother him at all.

Christmas Eve arrived. The village priest was on holiday and all the
pupils had to go to mass in a church some distance from the village. The
girls and boys walked along, chatting about what they would find the
next day beside the shoes they left out for Father Christmas:
fashionable clothes, expensive toys, chocolates, skateboards, and
bicycles. Since it was a special day, they were all well-dressed, all
except JosÄ‚Å*, who was wearing his usual ragged clothes and the same
battered sandals several sizes too small (his aunt had given them to him
when he was four, saying that he would only get a new pair when he was
ten). Some of the children asked why he was so poor and said they would
be ashamed to have a friend who wore such clothes and shoes. Since JosÄ‚Å*
had never known love, their questions and comments didn't bother him at all.

However, when they went into the church, and he heard the organ playing
and saw the bright lights and the congregation in their Christmas
finery, saw families gathered together and parents embracing their
children, JosÄ‚Å* felt he was the most wretched of creatures. After
communion, instead of walking back home with the others, he sat down on
the steps of the church and began to cry. He may never have known love,
but only at that moment did he understand what it was to be alone and
helpless and abandoned by everyone.

Just then, he noticed another small boy beside him, barefoot and
apparently as poor as he was. He had never seen the boy before and so
assumed that he must have walked a long way to get there. He thought:
"His feet must be really sore. I'll give him one of my sandals. That
will at least relieve half of his pain." Although JosÄ‚Å* had never known
love, he knew about suffering and didn't want others to experience it too.

He gave one of his sandals to the boy and returned home with the other
one. He wore the sandal first on his right foot and then on his left, so
that he didn't bruise the soles of his feet too badly on the stones
along the way. As soon as he reached home, his aunt noticed that he was
wearing only one sandal and told him that if he didn't find the other
sandal the next day, he would be harshly punished.

JosÄ‚Å* went to bed feeling very afraid because he knew what his aunt's
punishments were like. He lay all night trembling with fear, barely able
to sleep at all, and then, just as he was about to drowse off, he heard
voices in the front room. His aunt rushed in, demanding to know what was
going on. Still groggy from lack of sleep, JosÄ‚Å* joined their visitors
and, in the middle of the front room, saw the sandal he had given to the
little boy. Now, however, it was surrounded by all kinds of toys,
bicycles, skateboards and clothes. The neighbours were shouting and
screaming, declaring that their children had been robbed, because when
they woke up, they had found nothing beside their shoes at all.

At this point, the priest from the church where they had celebrated mass
the previous day arrived all out of breath: on the steps of the church a
statue of the Baby Jesus had appeared, clothed entirely in gold, but
wearing only one sandal. Silence fell, everyone present praised God and
his miracles, and the aunt wept and begged for forgiveness. And JosÄ‚Å*'s
heart was filled with the energy and the meaning of Love.

Paulo Coelho (Based on a story written in 1903 by François CoppÄ‚Å*e)

Translated from the Portuguese by Margaret Jull Costa
www.warriorofthelig ht.com Copyright@2006 by Paulo Coelho
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