Children Short Story – Mango Thief
Photo credit: szafirek from morguefile.com
Once Swapnil was passing by one huge garden, which belonged to a very rich man. The road through where he was passing was a bit lonely. So naturally he never expected any sound to come from there. However suddenly getting a peculiar sound of something falling on dry leaves by the garden, he stopped to check out the thing. He at first was unable to make any difference, when suddenly he saw one mango just fell below, just beside the one fell just a couple of minutes back.
He then looking at the top of the nearby mango tree, he found a small boy there. He was thin, black and very poor wearing a torn shorts and a torn vest. Seeing a small boy, may be stealing to just get rid of his hunger, Swapnil was just about to leave from there. Then suddenly he heard someone’s voice from inside which made him stop again to check that out. He found that the guard kept to keep a watch on the garden, basically to prevent the fruits getting stolen, somehow have come to know that mangoes are getting stolen and so rushed with a thick stick in his hand saying, “Who’s there stealing the mangoes?”
Swapnil thought that stealing indeed is wrong, whether done by a elder or a younger person. But since this is really a poor small child, just stealing to drive away his hunger, may be that he has a lot of constraints for other options, could be caught but left given few mangoes and politely told not to steal again. But Swapnil knew that these people would not do that polite behaviour instead with this poor small child. They would beat him black and blues till his rest of the hunger of his life also goes away or even may be he becomes a handicap. So he continued to stay there and watch out for things and also even to save the child if needed.
The guard came running near the tree in the meantime and pointing towards the child, ordered him to come down and started telling, “Inspite of telling so many times, may be to others, you came to steal. Do I need to tell you separately? Don’t you know stealing is anyway bad? Come I would take you to the owner and he would make you understand the punishment for stealing.”
The small innocent child came down and immediately the guard caught his hand and was about to drag him through the uneven lands to the inside of the house when Swapnil called in. He said, “Sir I am responsible for all these, so I just want to go along with him.”
The guard not agreeing to this said, “Who are you? How much you are responsible, this boy only was stealing and so his is in charge of last fault. Whatever anyone would say, he would do? No only he would go.”
Swapnil said, “Sir, he is yet to steal first of all. Moreover if he had that capacity to understand what seniors say among them which is wrong and which is right, would he not have found some other way to earn? Let me go or else I wont allow you to take him inside. I promise, I would only see to it that he doesn’t steal not only from here but from anywhere anything in future.”
Swapnil at last was allowed to go inside with the boy. During their small tour, Swapnil silently kept his finger on his mouth and symbol the little boy to keep absolutely quiet inside and let Swapnil speak instead.
As and when they reached near the fat, rich owner, the guard started telling, “Sahab, inspite of telling so many times, today this boy was stealing the mangoes. And this person wants to show cause for him.”
The owner first looked at the boy and then to Swapnil and then asked, “Tell me man, why had you told him to steal?”
It was then Swapnil’s turn. He has already played the trick and now he needed to implement that. He said, “Sir, let us put it this way, rather than uttering the word stealing so many times, as that was not at all stealing. Have some pity on this poor little child by not telling him thief. Sir, the boy came to me saying, “Will you please give me some money?” I said, “Child it is bad to beg. Do some work and then ask for money.”
So he asked what work he could do in this small age. I just noticing your garden and then mangoes hanging from it quickly thought of a plan. I said, could you go up a tree and pluck mangoes from that. To that he said yes. Sir believe me then I din’t even tell him also the reason behind this. I quickly pointed out your tree and he started going up the tree and plucking mangoes from there and throwing it on the ground. Sir my only intention was, once he finishes with these, I would tell him to take all these to you and ask for money for plucking them. You would have paid someone else to pluck these anyway, so why not him?”
To these the owner said, “Good enough, but could he not have asked and plucked? See the mangoes have not ripen as well.”
Swapnil again continued, “Sir this boy doesn’t have that much time in his hand to wait for the mangoes to ripe. He could have better begged then as he was doing. And see you only told. If he has asked you, would you have ever allowed him to pluck these unripe mangoes? But sir I told you he has no time in his hand. However you could now keep these mangoes well in a jar of paddy and allow them to ripe and then have it. It would be just the same taste to eat if you would have plucked them in ripen state from tree and have eaten. This boy has no time sir, because his dad needs to be operated now only or else his appendix would burst inside.”
Hearing this the owner gave the boy a lumsum and left him, saying, “Though you have earned much more than you have worked, but in this situation of yours, let me not allow you to work and waste time, rather go save your dad. But come later to work for this amount.”
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