An old man lived by himself in the countryside. He didn’t have any neighbors. His hearing gradually worsened as he aged, so he sent word to his son who lived in the big city, saying: "My hearing is no good; please send me a device that can help me hear better."
The son looked everywhere, but none of the devices he found was particularly good. In the end, he bought a trumpet and sent it to his father, along with a note: "Hold it backward against your ear, and listen through the back end of the trumpet."
The old man started using the trumpet routinely. He was happy to have it, though it didn’t help his hearing one bit. His hearing continued to deteriorate, until he was completely deaf.
Again the old man sent a letter to his son, saying: "I can no longer hear with that trumpet, so please send me another one that I can hear better with."
The son considered his father’s message. He sent the old man another trumpet that was identical to the first one, along with another note: "If you hold this trumpet to your ear, you will hear my voice."
The old man held the trumpet to his ear.
Then he was overcome with joy, and said: "Ah, I can hear it, I can hear it, I can hear my son's wonderful voice."
It was not the old man's ear that heard the voice, but his heart.
THE END
No comments:
Post a Comment