Читать книгу The parable of good and bad deeds - - Страница 9

In the morning, the friends flew to grandpa. He greeted them with joy as always and treated them to tea with delicious raspberry jam. Fortunately, there were enough rains and the garden was full of berries and fruits.

After listening to the kids, grandpa asked Oscar:

– What do you plan to do now?

– I don't know, – replied Oscar sadly, – I used to do things and make decisions on my own, but everything would fall apart. Now I sell things at the market, getting many more bricks, and everything falls apart again. And I keep endlessly repairing my broken house… My whole life will pass in endless fuss, and I won't even have time to sit with Mickey and drink tea with jam. These parties and social events are so fleeting, and all I get afterward is a headache. And the next morning after the rain, the dampness and dirt in the house are terrifying. When I become as old as you, Grandpa, and I don't have the strength to fly to the market of life to make decisions and do things, how will I repair the holes in my house? How will I restore it? Will I have to live in dampness and cold? And I won't have any friends, and I need their praise and respect so much! – Oscar burst into tears.

– Don't cry, Oscar, – his grandfather reassured him, – when I was young, I too only took on the tasks that gave me more bricks, without considering the meaning behind them.

– Well, that's what I do too, whether I do the tasks myself or sell them in the shop, – Oscar interrupted his grandfather, – I don't pay attention to the name or meaning of the task, they're all the same at the fair, and people buy or do them for bricks. I don't look at the purpose, I just look at how many bricks I'll get for it! For example, there's a task at the fair to «embroider a beautiful picture from fabric and give it to a friend for their birthday», which earns you 5 bricks. And there's another task to «steal a beautiful picture from someone you know and give it to a friend for their birthday», which earns you 50 bricks! What's the difference if the result is the same? In the second case, you don't even have to work hard or learn to sew, you just take and give! Simple and quick! – Oscar said with a smug look.

– Well, I remember, – Mickey chimed in, – the older kids used to tell us not to do such things!

– I don't know, I don't believe it, but why can't I do it? What's the big deal? Everyone else is doing it, why can't I do something that the older generation advised against? Nonsense, I know everything myself! – Oscar sharply replied.

– Yes, Oscar, your outrage is understandable and your questions are valid, – replied grandfather, – and of course, we will find answers to them together.

– Yes, grandfather, we will find them! And you also promised us to tell us many interesting and useful things last time, and we are ready, especially Oscar, to listen to you attentively, – Mickey said with a smile.