Threatened Charity
Some time 
ago, my wife helped a Swiss tourist in Ipanema, who said he had been robbed by pickpockets.
He spoke terrible Portuguese with a heavy accent, and claimed to be without a passport, money or place to stay.
My wife bought him lunch and gave him enough money to stay the night in a
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hotel while he contacted his embassy, and went off. Some days later, a Rio newspaper printed a story about this
"Swiss tourist," who was in fact nothing but a creative conman putting on an inexistent accent, and taking
advantage of the good faith of people who love Rio and, eager to exorcise the negative image which - fairly or
not - has become our city's postcard.
Upon reading this news item, my wife's only comment was: "well that won't stop me from helping people."
Her comment reminded me of the story of the wise man who, one afternoon, came to the town of Akbar. No one took
much notice of his presence, and he was unable to interest the population in his teachings. After a time, he became
an object of laughter and sarcasm among the townsfolk.
One day, as he wandered down Akbar's main thoroughfare, a group of men and women began to insult him. Instead of
pretending not to be aware of what was going on, the wise man went over to them and blessed them.
One of the men commented:
Is it possible that, on top of everything else, this man here is deaf? We hurl abuse at you, and
all you do is reply with beautiful words!
"Each of us can only offer the other that which is his" - was the wise man's answer.
How the Path was Forged
One day, a calf needed to cross a virgin forest in order to return to its pasture. Being an irrational animal,
it forged out a tortuous path full of bends, up and down hills.
The next day, a dog came by and used the same path to cross the forest. Next it
was a sheep's turn, the head of a flock which, upon finding the opening, led its companions through it.
Later, men began using the path: they entered and left, turned to the right, to the left, bent down, deviating
obstacles, complaining and cursing - and quite rightly so. But they did nothing to create a different alternative.
After so much use, in the end, the path became a trail along which poor animals toiled under heavy loads, being
forced to go three hours to cover a distance which would normally take thirty minutes, had no one chosen to follow
the route opened up by the calf.
Many years passed and the trail became the main road of a village, and later the main avenue of a town. Everyone
complained about the traffic, because the route it took was the worst possible one.
Meanwhile, the old and wise forest laughed, at seeing how men tend to blindly follow the way already open, without
ever asking whether it really is the best choice.