The old man looked up, "What is it, my young friend ?" he asked. "Why do you bother to visit an old man like me ?"
The young man said, "They say that you are clever, and I have come to learn something useful from you."
"It is true that I have had many experiences," said the old man, "and it is a bad thing if we do not learn from them - to make sure that we do not make the same mistakes again. I have heard a lot about you. I heard that you did well in your examinations."
"Yes, thank you," said the young man. "I did well in the theory, and I got full marks for the practical. The practical was easy."
"You say that the practical was easy ?" asked the old man. "Often in life the theory is easy but it is the practical side which people find more difficult. So what will you do now ?"
"Well," said the young man, "I am going to the city to study more, and then I hope to get a good job and prosper in the world."
"I wish you well," said the old man. "Do you plan to marry ?"
"Yes, of course," said the young man, "but I will wait until I have a good job first."
"Is there no one here in the village that you will miss, eh ?" asked the old man, smiling. "Remember it is easy to fall in love when you are far from home and away from all your friends, but men are often happier when they marry someone who has grown up in the same way as themselves. A city girl will make you happy - in the city, but you will want to come back to the village, and she will be bored here."
"Thank you, I will remember that," said the young man. "Of course I shall often come back to the village, to see my parents and friends. When I am rich I will buy my parents all the things they ever wanted."
"That is good," said the old man. "I am glad that you are grateful for your parents. We must all repay our parents for all the time and trouble they took to raise us."
"Yes," replied the young man, "but how can we do this ? Often I was very naughty and made them unhappy. All the things in the world cannot undo the pain I caused them."
The old man thought for a moment and then he said, "We repay our parents in the same way that they repaid their parents, not by giving them things, but by doing what they did. Do you understand now ?"
"I think so," said the young man. "You mean that I have a debt, and this debt will only be repaid when I have raised children of my own."
"That is right," said the old man.
The young man looked worried. "Do people have any other debts to repay ?" he asked.
"Of course," said the old man. "Think of all the people who have ever helped you, friends, teachers and even strangers. You will be very ungrateful if you never help other people in the same way that you have been helped."
The young man looked down at the ground and said, "Yes, I think I am rather lucky."
"Yes, you are really very lucky," said the old man. "You are the finest young man in our village, you have good health, good looks, you are well educated, you have good parents and you make friends easily. Do not spoil it all by forgetting about those people who are not as lucky as you."
"Do you mean the poor people ?" asked the young man.
"Certainly the poor," said the old man, "and also people who do not have a perfect body, maybe they are blind or crippled, and do not ignore someone because their mind is not as good as yours, or if they cannot understand a new idea as quickly as you. But certainly the poor people. Is it their fault that they are poor ? Is it their fault that they suffer from drought and disease and that their land does not produce good crops ?"
The young man looked away and said angrily, "It is their own fault. They could do a lot better if they really wanted to. If I give them anything, they will only waste it."
"That may be true," said the old man. "It may be true that some of the men are lazy, but think of the women and the children, especially the children. What can they do ? They will grow up poor like their parents if there is no one to help them. There is a lot of good that can be done. I hope you will not forget that when you are rich. Why are you not one of them, eh ?"
"Me ?" asked the young man. "Well, I suppose I was born to a good family."
"Yes," said the old man, "but you might have been born to a poor family. Why did you come to a good home ? Is it your reward ? Are other people born poor as a punishment, or is it to give them a bigger challenge ? Please do not ask me, I do not know. However, I do know that life is a gift, and if we have a big gift, we have to pay back more. Wouldn't it be good if everyone had the same start in life ? Anyone who can change the world in that way will be richly rewarded."
"Richly rewarded ?" asked the young man. "Obviously not with things."
The old man said, "A person is not rewarded, or even remembered for his position or how much he gets for himself, but only for what he does for other people. You know, we are what we do. If we do nothing, we are nothing. A man is known by his job, by what he does, isn't he ?"
"Yes," said the young man slowly, "so what must we do then ?"
"Ah, that is the question," said the old man. "The great teachers tell us how to live our lives, but they do not tell each of us what to do with our lives. We have to find this out for ourselves, and we must be true to ourselves."
"Yes," said the young man, "the great teachers tell us to honour God and be kind to everyone, that is what you meant about the poor people, I think. But what do you mean about being true to ourselves ?"
The old man said, "First you must know yourself. You must know not just what you are, but what you can be in the future. Do you remember the story of the talents ?"
"Of course," said the young man, "but my talents seem rather few. I cannot even play a musical instrument very well."
"No, no," said the old man, "talents are much more than that. They are all the opportunities that come to someone in their life. Take each opportunity when it comes and then you will never be sorry, that is how to be true to yourself."
"I see," said the young man. "You know, my friends laughed when I told them that I wanted to see you, but I am glad I came. Your advice is good and I thank you. Oh, I see that you are crying. I am sorry, my questions must have made you tired. I must go now."
"Oh, it is nothing," said the old man. "Thank you for coming. Goodbye and good luck."
The young man went away. He often thought about what the old man had told him, but he never knew what made the old man cry.
After the young man had left, the old man put his face in his hands and cried, "Oh Lord, forgive me. I have failed you. I was a young man once, just like him, rich, well educated, healthy. I had the opportunities, I saw the poor and the hungry, but I just took your gift and grabbed everything for myself. I think I repaid my debt to my parents, and maybe to my teachers, but not my debt to you."
He looked up and remembered how, a long time ago, he had wanted to make the world fair for everyone, to feed the poor, to spread understanding and to fight disease. Then he continued, "But I did nothing. I had the opportunities, but I let them go. I knew the theory, but I failed the practical. I have failed the examination of your gift - life, and now it is too late to change. Now I know I cannot expect any reward, but please can I ask for one thing - for that young man ? Please do not let him waste his opportunities too."
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The Young Man and the Old Man
since 2007 April 10
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