We all know the story of the little
thief who became a big thief. A boy
who started off by stealing a needle,
and then ended up stealing a cow. The
morals of this story are as follows: one,
habits are hard to fix; two, and most
importantly, boys must be absolutely
obedient to their perfect mums who
tell them off. But let us give this story a
little more detail, and perhaps, look at
it in a slightly different perspective.
Let's call the boy John, just for the sake of it. One day, John spotted a really
nice pencil that his friend had. It was yellow, with little cute pictures of cartoon
bees drawn on it. John really liked that pencil, so he carefully snatched the
gold beauty into his hands while his friend was at the toilet. John came home
really proud, thinking his mum, who always praised gold stars or prizes, would
congratulate him. After all, he didn't spend any money on this pencil; he just
took it for nothing.
When he came home, his mother told him off. She chastised him for
stealing, and told him that stealing was wrong. Still, John didn't really get
what was wrong. "I thought you would like it, mum." John said, "I didn't spend
any money on it. And look, it's really pretty, it’s even gold." Even though his
mum ceaselessly tried to explain what was wrong, John didn't understand his
mistake. Then, out of sheer exhaustion, his mum shouted out. "If you wanted
to steal that bad, why did you steal a petty little pencil instead of something
big and extravagant?” And that was the only phrase that stuck in John's mind,
resonating in his head like a far echo.
After that ‘conversation’ with his mum, John decided to steal something
grander. He thought hard about what he could steal, a prize that would
make mum content - and then his other friend's pouch came into his view.
He quietly set his hands on the target, less anxious than before, and proudly
presented it to his mum. Of course his mum told him off for stealing once
again, but John still thought that his mum was telling him off because the
thing he stole was not big enough. So he went on to look for something else.
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