STORIES, STORIES
On this page you will find stories that I hope you will enjoy. Remember them and share them. In the oral tradition of telling stories once stories leave the mouth of the teller they can never be brought back. If they are not shared stories die.
TWO OLD MEN
This is a story that a friend shared a few years ago. I do not know its origins or where she got it from but I enjoyed it very much.
Two sick old men were assigned the same hospital room. They found out that both had been in the army in their youth. One of the men was in worse shape than the other. He was not able to move much and so mostly lay in one position. To cheer him up, his roommate told him stories everyday. He relayed to him what was happening outside.
There is a grand old parade going on in the street, he said one day. People are wearing beautiful costumes, he said another time. Another day he talked about musicians and clowns performing on the square. He told him about people who sold flowers, colourful artifacts, dogs running around in the park, the fancy cars driving around, and so on.
When autumn came he told him about the colourful leaves on the trees, the children playing with the leaves on the ground, actors rehearsing their lines, dancers and stilt walkers each doing something different. He also told him about the skaters when snow finally fell. How beautiful and graceful they all moved around on the frozen fountain and what was a pond during the summer. How much fun it was watching children falling as they learned to skate but even funnier watching adults stumble around trying to catch their balance or falling flat as new skaters.
Generally, he shared with him about all the excitement and exciting things going on outside. One day, not hearing his friend’s voice, when he heard a nurse walking around, the patient asked if his friend was okay. The nurse said he had been moved. He asked if he had been discharged. She said no. So then the patient wanted to know what happened to him. Finally, after some hesitation the nurse said, “I’m so sorry, but he died last night.”
The friend was quiet for long moment. He wiped his tears and said, “Nurse, can I request to be moved to the bed by the window?
“The window?” she asked puzzled.
“Yes,” said the man. “I would like to move to the bed by the window so I can see outside.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but there is no window in this room,” the nurse said.
The man said nothing. When the nurse looked at him again she saw tears in his eyes. They were tears of both grief and gratitude.
Move me tere any way he said.
A MAN AND HIS SON
A man and his son were traveling on a long journey. After a while they met a man along the way who was taking his mule to the market to sell it. The father bought the mule and he and his son continued on their way. Soon they passed a group of people who looked at the man and son strange.
“Look at that stupid man and his boy," one man said. "They have a mule yet they are walking instead of riding the mule.”
So a little ways, out of site of the group of people, the man and his son mounted the mule and continued on their way. Now travel was easy. However, no sooner had they settled on their comfortable ride when they came upon a group of women sitting under a mango tree.
“Eh, look at that man and the boy!” They said to one another. “They are riding that puny little mule without any concern for its well being.”
“Ah, people are so cruel these days.”
And so the man made the boy dismount and walk. After traveling for some distance they passed a market place. Some of the people going to and from the market watched the man and his son.
“Can you believe that man?” Somebody said. “How can he be riding while letting his tired child walk? Poor boy, some fathers don’t care about their children.”
Hearing this, the man felt bad so he put his son on the mule and he walked. They traveled this way until they passed a some elders meeting in a village square. The men looked at one another and simply shook their heads in disbelief.
“Heh," one of them said, "the world has changed.”
“Imagine that boy riding while his father is walking?" another man added. "These children today have no respect at all.”
Hearing this, the man brought his son down from the mule. Now the father and his son carried on their journey walking along side the mule again.