Fable
Monday, June 5th, 2006
There once was a man.
Not a priest or a lord or a hero, just a man. But a kindly man.
In the city where the man lived there were many poor people who had been abandoned by their king. These paupers begged for money to buy food and clothes. Many had no homes to go to and lived on the streets sleeping in the cold and rain.
The people of the city did not want to give money to the poor fearing it would simply be spent the money on wine or strong spirits, so the people donated to charities so the money would be well spent.
The kindly man, like many men in the city, donated some small part of his earnings to these charities to help the poor. But the kindly man also did something else.
When the poor of the city begged money from him, he did not ignore them. Instead he answered their request politely, even if refusing them. One day, one of the other citizens asked the man "why do you talk to the poor, why do you respond?".
And the man said "I may not give them money, but I will not also take away their self respect by denying their existence".
Sometimes the kindly man is more gracious and noble than any lord, or hero.
A pretty story? Also a true story. It's about someone I once knew\, and who I will always value for being a kindly man.
