Teach the Children  / Enseñar a los Niños

(Original Printable)    En Espanol

“Can I have some money for candy?”

“No”

“My friends are given money for candy?”

“Go to the store.  Look at the books.”

Later, “And which did you find to be the most interesting ?”

Inaudible.

“Is that so?  And what did you find interesting about it?”

Inaudible.

“Here is money, go get the book.”

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¿Y de quién se trataba esta historia?

And who was this story about?

Alonso Quijano

¿Quién era este hombre?   ¿Y cuál era su propósito?

Who was this man?   And what was his purpose?

Era un caballo andante deseando aventuras y servir a su país.

He was an errant-knight desiring adventure and to serve his country.

¿Tenía amigos y cuál era su propósito?

Did he have any friends and what was their purpose?

Sí, Sancho Panza, era el gracioso y no tan loco.

Yes, Sancho Panza, he was the funny one and not so crazy.

¿Qué quieres decir con loco?

What do you mean crazy?

El caballero pierde la cabeza leyendo novelas románticas y lo golpean y lo meten en una jaula. Finalmente pierde una batalla y acepta no tener más aventuras.  Luego se enferma.  Pero cuando se despierta, escribe un testamento en el que declara que desheredará a su sobrina si alguna vez se casa con un hombre que lee novelas románticas. 

The knight loses his mind from reading romantic novels and gets himself beaten and thrown into a cage. Eventually he loses a battle and agrees to no more adventures.  Then he becomes sick.  But when he wakes up he writes a will stating that he will dis-inherit his niece if she ever marries a man that reads romantic novels. 

¿Y luego qué pasa?

And then what happens?

Él muere.

He dies.

Entonces, ¿qué significa la historia para ti?

So what does the story mean to you?

Realmente no lo sé.  Quiero decir, sólo tengo siete años. 

I don’t really know.  I mean, I am only seven years old. 

Verdadero.  Pero los años venideros te revelarán su sabiduría.

True.  But the years to come will reveal its wisdom to you.  

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Years later the little boy who asked for candy became a businessman and was asked by a colleague, “Why are you so different from the others I have met from your city in Africa?”

He responded with the story of the desire for candy being rebuffed and instead being directed to purchase books. 

Years later the little girl that was assigned a long, complicated novel, can observe and analyze the interplay of her patients' lives and their supporting casts,  with all the complexity, intricacy and insanity of Don Quixote and find some meaning and beauty in the tapestry of their lives. 

For better or worse, readers become leaders as what is written well lasts beyond what is spoken and speaks again and again, appearing the utterances and missives of those whose minds were inseminated by logic or by the emotions.  And in that way, the words are eternal. 

The next time one is asked to give for something that will last but a month, a week or even just a moment, consider instead of offering that person and especially a child,  a book.  But choose wisely, as such a gift is a love that can last a lifetime. 

Zado Ingles