First lesson in life

Although it was a sad memory, it was the first lesson life taught me about human relations. A worthy lesson. Without parents or teachers, I learned that lesson from a very strange “teacher” in my childhood. You may find it hard to believe, but my “teacher” was a… little monkey.

The monkey belonged to an old beggar, sick and probably blind. He sat by the market gate with the monkey perched on his shoulder. It wore a leather collar with an iron chain attached to it. The end of the chain was looped around the old man's wrist. That way, he could hold it, and it could lead him.

The two lives of a human and a monkey were linked by a chain. But that was my memory when I grew up. At that time, I was a child. Children could not think seriously about anything, they were only interested in strange things. A monkey coming from the forest to the market was strange. A monkey tied to a human was even stranger. And that strangeness made me and the children in the neighborhood very interested. We did not stop at just watching, pointing, and teasing, we also "researched" more evil tricks to have fun.

Every morning, the monkey trotted along with the old man to the market gate. The old man sat down on the ground, a dented aluminum basin placed in front of him, waiting for the compassion of passersby. The monkey was smarter than we thought. Every time it saw someone passing by, it would “support” the old man by purring and extending its hand. That mischievous, cute gesture made the monkey sometimes beg for more than its owner.

However, the monkey only ate what could be eaten immediately, and threw the rest into the basin for the old man. His favorite foods were bananas and candy. When given candy, he happily grinned, peeled off each piece, and put them all in his mouth. The "bag" on his cheek hung out, full of candy inside, looking very funny.

That day was a cold, rainy winter day. The market was sparsely populated, in a hurry, no one paid any attention to the old man and the shivering monkey huddled under the roof of the cage. It was almost noon but the old man's aluminum basin was still empty, he had not received anything. Surrounding the poor beggar were only us, a few idle kids. One of the ringleaders suddenly had an "initiative". He called us to gather around to discuss, giggling happily. Everyone dispersed, 15 minutes later, we gathered again. Each of us had our hands full of bananas and candy, poking them at the monkey's nose.

Having not eaten anything since morning, the hungry monkey saw the banana and candy, its eyes lit up, and it happily held out its hand. Holding the banana, it grunted, nodded repeatedly as if to thank it, then frantically peeled off the skin to eat. However, behind the real banana peel, inside was only... clay. Throwing away the "banana" ginkgo, the monkey continued to hold out its hand to receive the candy, but inside the green-red glossy paper were also only dirt, rocks, broken bricks...

We laughed heartily, despite the poor monkey's bloodshot eyes, whining miserably as if it was about to cry. Not yet satisfied with my laughter, I continued to show the fake candy. At this moment, after being fooled, the monkey's gentle appearance suddenly disappeared. It jumped up, fiercely. Everyone ran away, but the monkey grabbed my hand and bit me, refusing to let go...

More than half a century has passed, now my hair is white but the memory of the beggar and the little monkey is still as if it happened yesterday. The first lesson, I had to pay with a scar on my hand but also helped me open up the conscience that was lacking in the child back then. And it was that first lesson in life that taught me how to become a kind person every day.

Source: https://baogialai.com.vn/bai-hoc-dau-doi-post320037.html