Someone Who Understands

A farmer had some puppies he wanted to sell.  He put up a sign advertising the four 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 someone tug at 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.

Out 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 the other pups would.’

Hearing 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.’

With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup.

Some Suggestions for Discussion:

a. Were you gifted something that you thought had a flaw? And what did you do then? Did you throw it away? Did you accept it?Why did you accept or not accept it?

b. Have you ever witnessed anybody with a disability? Do they face any trouble? Have you ever helped anyone with a disability?

An Unpleasant Smell

A prosperous moneylender or ‘seth’ bought a house adjacent to that of a tanner. All day long the tanner converted hide into leather, treating it with tannin. From day one the moneylender was put off by the unpleasant smell from the tannery.

So, he visited the tanner and offered to buy his house.

‘I would love to sell the house if you buy it, Seth,’ said the tanner. He had no intention of doing any such thing but he liked to play pranks. ‘Give me a week or so to wind up some things, will you?’ The seth agreed and went away.

A week later, the overpowering smell coming from the tannery brought the seth to the tanner’s doorstep again. ‘I understand sir,’ said the tanner with wide-eyed sympathy when the moneylender told him that the smell had reduced his appetite. ‘But my mother is visiting me this week. I can’t sell the house as long as she is round. Please wait for a month that is until she goes away.’

The seth agreed with great reluctance. He began to wait for the guest’s departure with bated breath. In the beginning he counted each day, impatiently waiting for one to finish and the other to begin. After a while though he found he was no longer all that interested in the month coming to an end. And when the month did end, the seth did not go to the tanner’s house to ask him to leave. He had simply forgotten about it.

He did not even ask the tanner to leave when they met next. You see, while the tanner tarried, the seth had become accustomed to the tan-yard’s smell. ‘What have you done to drive away that infernal smell?’ he asked the tanner one day. ‘Have you diluted the solution?’

The tanner smiled and nodded. He had been waiting for the day the seth would get used to the smell from the tannery and stop bothering him. That was why he had asked the seth to wait in the first place.

Some Suggestions for Discussion:

a. Ask the children to describe a tanner and a tannery.

b. Play a game: Reason and Counter Reason. Divide the children in two groups and ask one of the groups to state reasons as to why the tanner should have left. Now ask the opposing team to counter those reasons.

c. What would you have done had you been in the place of the tanner? Give three possible ways of dealing with the peeved seth.