The Christmas Tale
Ambicia e një të riu kinez dhe fati i vulosur prej të cilit nuk largohesh dot. Si çdo vit, shkrimtari brazilian Paulo Coelho boton përrallën e Krishtlindjes.
2023-12-24 18:32:10
Erjon Uka
By Paulo Coelho / Many years ago, there lived in China a boy named Mogo, who earned his living by breaking stones. No matter how healthy and strong, Mogo was not at all satisfied with the fate that had befallen him, and he only complained day and night. He cursed God so much that the guardian angel appeared to him.
- You have health and a whole life ahead - said the angel. This is how all young people start, doing some work like yours. Why spend your life complaining?
- God has been unfair to me. It has not given me the opportunity to grow - said Mogo.
Worried, the angel appeared before God, to ask for help, so that his protégé would not end up cursing his own soul.
- Let your will be done - said God - whatever he wants will be given to him.
The next day, while he was breaking stones as usual, Mogo saw a carriage in which a nobleman was riding, filled with jewels. Wiping his dirty, sweaty face with his hands, Mogo cried bitterly:
- Why can't I be noble too? This is my luck!
- Will be! - murmured the angel, filled with joy.
And so Mogo became the master of an ornate palace, surrounded by great wealth, with many servants and full of horses. He went out every day with his magnificent procession and enjoyed the sight of his former friends, who lined up on the side of the road and looked at him with respect.
One afternoon, the heat was so unbearable that, even under his golden umbrella, Mogo was sweating as in the days when he broke stones. So he understood that the tekefundit was not so important: above him there were princes and emperors and, far above all these, was the sun, which obeyed no one, since he was the true sovereign.
- Ah, my angel! Why can't I be the sun? This must be my destiny! - complained Mogo.
- Well, you will be! – cried the angel, hiding his discomfort at such a great ambition.
And Mogo became the sun, as was his wish.
As he shone in the sky, enchanted by the great power to roast crops or burn them at will, a black dot began to appear in front of him. The dark spot continued to grow, and Mogo realized that it was a cloud that was coming in front of him and little by little, blocking his view of the Earth.
- Angel! – screamed Mogo – The cloud is more powerful than the sun! My destiny is to be new!
- Will be! - answered the angel.
Mogo turned into a cloud and thought that this is how he realized his dream.
- I am strong! - shouted, darkening the sun.
- I am invincible! - roared following the waves.
But on the desolate shore of the ocean stood a great granite rock, as old as the world. Mogo thought that rock was there to challenge him and unleashed a storm that had never been seen before on earth. The waves, huge and furious, hit the rock trying to tear it from the land and throw it to the bottom of the sea.
But the rock, solid and indifferent, remained in place.
- Angel! - cried Mogo - The rock is stronger than the cloud! My destiny is to be a rock!
And Mogo turned to rock.
- Who can beat me now? - he asked. – I am the strongest in the world!
So several years passed until, one morning, Mogo felt a sharp pain in his stony bowels, followed by a deep pain, as if a part of his granite body was being torn away. Then he heard a dull, insistent knock, and again that terrible pain.
Crazy with surprise, he shouted:
- Angel, someone is trying to kill me! He has more power than me, I want to be like him.
- And you will be! – cried the tearful angel.
And so, Mogo started breaking stones again.
*Paulo Coelho is among the most popular Brazilian writers. Every year-end he publishes a Christmas Eve story. It was translated into Albanian by Erjon Uka.
Read the 2022 Christmas story here
