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Coelho > Warrior of the Light Issue 110
Warrior of the Light
Issue nº 110
Christmas Story: A place in Paradise
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Many years ago, in the northeast of Brazil, there lived a couple
who were very poor and whose only possession was a hen. They
managed to scrape a precarious living from the eggs laid by
that one hen.
On Christmas Eve, however, the hen died. The husband, who only
had a few pennies to his name, which was certainly not enough
to buy food for that evening’s meal, went to seek help
from the village priest.
Instead of giving him money, the priest merely remarked:
‘God never closes a door without opening a window. Your
money will buy you almost nothing, so go to the market and buy
the first thing you’re offered. I will bless that purchase
and, since Christmas is the time for miracles, something will
happen that will change your life for ever.’
The man wasn’t entirely convinced that this was the best
solution, but he went to the market anyway. One of the traders
saw him wandering aimlessly about and asked what he was looking
for.
‘I don’t know. I don’t have much money, but
the priest told me that I should buy the first thing I was offered.’
The trader was very rich, but even so he never let slip an opportunity
to make a profit, however small. He took the man’s few
coins and in exchange gave him a note scribbled on a piece of
paper.
‘The priest was quite right. Now I’ve always had
a kind heart, and so, on this festive day, I’m selling
you my place in Paradise. Here are the deeds!’
The other man took the piece of paper and moved off, while the
trader glowed with pride at having closed yet another excellent
deal. That night, while he was preparing for supper in his house
full of servants, he told the story to his wife, adding that
it was thanks to such quick thinking that he had become as rich
as he was.
‘That’s shameful!’ said his wife. ‘Fancy
behaving like that on the day Jesus was born! Go straight to
that man’s house and get the piece of paper back, or you’ll
never set foot in this house again!’
Alarmed by his wife’s anger, the trader decided to do
as she said. After much asking around, he managed to find out
where the man lived. When he went in, he found the couple sitting
at a table that was completely bare apart from the piece of
paper.
‘I’ve come because what I did was wrong,’
the trader said. ‘Here’s your money. Now give me
back what I sold you.’
‘You did nothing wrong,’ replied the man. ‘I
followed the priest’s advice and I know that what I bought
from you is blessed.’
‘But it’s just a piece of paper. Besides, no one
can sell someone else their place in Paradise. If you like,
I’ll give you double what you paid for it.’
However, because he believed in miracles, the poor man refused
to sell. The trader gradually increased his offer, until he
reached the sum of ten gold coins.
‘That’s no good to me,’ said the man. ‘In
order to give my wife the life she deserves, I need one hundred
gold coins. That is the miracle I’m waiting for this Christmas
Eve.’
In despair and knowing that if he lingered any longer, no one
in his own house would have supper or go to midnight mass, the
trader ended up paying one hundred gold coins to get the piece
of paper back. As far as the couple were concerned, the miracle
had happened. As for the trader, he had done as his wife had
asked. His wife, though, was filled with doubt. Had she been
too hard on her husband?
As soon as midnight mass was over, she went to the priest and
told him the story.
‘Father, my husband met a man who said that you had told
him to go to the market and buy the first thing he was offered.
My husband, seeing a chance to earn some easy money, wrote him
a note on a piece of paper, selling him his place in Paradise.
I told my husband that he wouldn’t eat in our house tonight
if he didn’t get that piece of paper back, and he ended
up having to pay one hundred gold coins for it. Did I go too
far? Could a place in Paradise really cost that much?’
‘Firstly, your husband was able to show great generosity
on this, the most important day in the Christian calendar. Secondly,
he became the instrument of God through whom a miracle was performed.
But to answer your question: when he sold his place in Heaven
for a few pennies, it wasn’t even worth that much; however,
when he bought it back for one hundred gold coins simply to
make his wife happy, that, I can assure you, made it worth much
much more.’
(Based
on an Hasidic tale by David Mandel)
Copyright
@ 2005 by Paulo Coelho
Warrior of Light Online, published by www.paulocoelho.com.br
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