The book and the charcoal basket

THE BOOK AND THE COAL BASKET

 

            In a remote farm, there lived an old man with his grandson. Every morning, the old man would wake up early to read. The grandson imitated him, trying to sit and read every day. Then one day, he asked his grandfather:

"Grandpa, I read books just like you, but I don't understand anything! There are parts I understand, but there are parts I close up and forget immediately. So what's the point of reading books if you read so often?"

The old man turned around, looked at his grandson, and said, "Take this basket of coal to the river and bring me back a basket of water!" The boy did as he was told, but by the time he got home, all the water had leaked out. Seeing this, the old man laughed and said, "The water's all gone! Next time, you must go faster!"

            On subsequent occasions, the boy walked faster, but when he got home, the water had still all drained away. He told his grandfather:

But           I'll go get the bucket to fetch water for Grandpa.

But the old man stopped him and said:

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But   He didn't want a bucket of water, he wanted a basket of water. You can do it. It's just that you haven't tried hard enough.

The boy tried again, this time fetching water with a basket, but he was unsuccessful each time.

But           It's all pointless, sir!

But           Why do you think it's useless? Take another look at the basket.

The boy looked back at the basket and realized that it looked completely different from before; it was very clean and no longer dirty.

The old man said:

But           That's what happens when you read books. You may not understand or remember everything, but when you read, books will change you from within, just as water cleansed that basket of coal.

 

                     Collected by: Bac Ha Ethnic Boarding Secondary and High School

 

Source: http://laocai.edu.vn/goc-van-nghe/cuon-sach-va-gio-dung-than-142093