I have a strange habit that's difficult to break. Every night before going to bed, I always find myself checking out updates of my favorite fanfictions through my Blackberry and if there isn't any, I'll then browse for new stories worth to be explored further. The whole process will take about two or three hours, and after I feel satisfied and really drowsy, I will put my Blackberry aside and sleep. Yesterday is different though. For no apparent reason I didn't have the urge to read fanfictions and decided to check out my old e-book collections. It turns out that I haven't read most of them, and at that time, my attention was focused on a Paulo Coelho's e-book titled Stories for Parents, Children, and Grandchildren.
I think that my attention at that time had something to do with the word 'stories'. It's a common secret that I dislike novels, movies and even fanfictions with long chapters and overcomplicated drama. Sure I love complex plot, unexpected twist, romance in the air and new characters' appearance, but my level of tolerance and loyalty isn't that high. To put it cynically, more than a hundred chapter in a novel or fanfiction will poison me, more than ten sequels in TV Series will choke me to death, and never ending plot, romance and new characters will stab me through the heart. Looking back at Coelho's other novels, I expected that I'd find four or five short stories on the e-book, yet in reality I was in for a surprise.
Paulo Coelho truly never fails to amaze me. After reading only the first three pages, I was totally engrossed in this e-book. It's better than my expectation! There are more than fifty short stories on this e-book; each story takes no longer than one page. Subjects and objects of discussions are different for each story and I dare to say that all of them are very insightful, enjoyable, and teach me the simplest kind of things that should've been implemented to achieve a better life like how to treat other people, how to empower own skills, how to overcome big obstacles and so on. The term 'better' itself has multiple interpretation on this book, it's interpreted as gaining upper hand in a situation but on another story it's interpreted simply as the success in helping people in needs. No wonder that Coelho put words 'parents, children and grandchildren' as part of the title, this e-book can simply be read by everyone. I feel like I've become wiser only by reading this e-book, and obtained new fighting spirit to get through problems scattered in my life.
Here's my favorite part of the novel:
Paying the right price
Nixivan had invited his friends to supper and was cooking a succulent piece of meat for them. Suddenly, he realised that he had run out of salt.
So Nixivan called to his son.
'Go to the village and buy some salt, but pay a fair price for it: neither too much nor too little.'
His son was surprised.
'I can understand why I shouldn’t pay too much for it, Father, but if I can bargain them down, why not save a bit of money?'
'That would be the sensible thing to do in a big city, but it could destroy a small village like ours.'
When Nixivan's guests, who had overheard their conversation, wanted to know why they should not buy salt more cheaply if they could, Nixivan replied:
'The only reason a man would sell salt more cheaply than usual would be because he was desperate for money. And anyone who took advantage of that situation would be showing a lack of respect for the sweat and struggle of the man who laboured to produce it.'
'But such a small thing couldn't possibly destroy a village.'
'In the beginning, there was only a small amount of injustice abroad in the world, but everyone who came afterwards added their portion, always thinking that it was only very small and unimportant, and look where we have ended up today.'
It reminds me of how I used to haggle for hours in flea markets and local shops to get hefty discounts, but didn't complain a thing about price whenever I bought something from larger retailers and hypermarkets whose goods are originated from local shops. Definitely have to change my attitude.
P.S.: Are you interested to read the other parts? Get the e-book here.
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