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    Little Parables
    Little Parables
    Little Parables
    Ebook165 pages1 hour

    Little Parables

    By Alfredo Villa

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    About this ebook

    “Parable [par‘ə bəl] n.

    A short allegorical story designed to illustrate or teach some truth, religious principle, or moral lesson.”

    The title is in the diminutive form out of respect for the official definition of the word parable, and above all out of deference to those works which constitute the true and only real Parables.

    The 89 short stories which make up this manuscript do indeed respect that intent.

    Sitting in a Paradise where time runs simultaneously still, God lowers his gaze on to those ordinary events which have as their main characters all the animate and inanimate forms of creation. It is a multitude of points of dialogue between the earthly and the divine, where God – surprisingly human – discovers Himself to be able to learn from the results of his creative intention. Objects, plants and animals are presented in allegories of virtue and fault, all the while leaving the reader to discover where the story passes from the realm of the simple tale to that of becoming an opportunity for reflection.

    The language used is in the simple style of fairytales, with ample recourse to direct speech to give voice to the various characters rather than to an all-knowing narrator.

    If reading these “little parables” could generate even the slightest inkling of gratitude and love towards God, that would surely be a wonderful thing. I feel, in all honesty, that even a simple, tiny, and apparently insignificant gesture of affection, no more than the hint of a caress in God’s direction, would suffice for Him as our acceptance of the gift of His Mercy and His Salvation. We can receive all that was promised, which is so very much, in exchange for so little.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAlfredo Villa
    Release dateAug 1, 2014
    ISBN9786050311570
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      Book preview

      Little Parables - Alfredo Villa

      reason

      THIRST

      God and man.

      Both infinitely thirsty.

      Separated by a non-existent moat.

      Each one of them is carrying a single flask.

      Each one’s flask contains the only drink that could quench the thirst of the other.

      DRINKS

      Ever since the beginning of time, whenever he was thirsty, man would go to a spring and drink the water.

      Animals would do the same, as do plants, which receive their water in the form of raindrops.

      Water would quench the thirst of all and everyone.

      The world we know was born of water.

      With the development of knowledge and science, man didn’t just take possession of water; in one part of the world he invented beer, in another tea, in another coffee, soft drinks in yet another, and so on, to make hundreds of different beverages.

      To the point that even when we ask simply for water, this is provided with the addition of fizzy bubbles.

      From natural thirst to exploited thirst.

      There have even been trade wars to demonstrate how one drink was better than another.

      Wars and divisions that by now have lasted for centuries.

      So everyone has forgotten that water is not only the one ingredient that is common to all drinks, but that without the precious simplicity of spring water, there would not be a single beverage in existence, and neither would there be anyone to drink it. 

      THE DOG

      God was sitting under a beautiful tree.

      A dog was curled up at his feet; as God smiled at it affectionately he summoned three of his wisest angels and said to them:

      "I’d like you to go to Earth to experience the life of man directly.

      Tell me which talents you would like me to bestow on you now, and how you will better be able to serve me in Paradise when you return from this journey."

      The first angel made his request, saying:

      I’d like to be given the rationality which distinguishes superior beings. Then, while I’m on Earth, I’ll be able to employ my highly refined reflections to convince a great number of men of the inevitable necessity of believing in You and loving You. In this way, when I return to Paradise followed by all the people I shall have been able to convince, we shall all be able to sit at Your feet and listen in full awareness to Your word.

      The second angel made his request, saying:

      I’d like to be given the beauty which distinguishes superior beings. Then, while I’m on Earth I’ll be able use beauty and art to convince a great number of people like me of the wonderful aesthetic experience we all share in believing in You and loving You. In this way, when I return to Paradise followed by all the people I shall have been able to convince, we shall all be able to sit at Your feet and admire, in full awareness, Your supreme beauty.

      The third angel made his request, saying:

      I’d like to be given the humanity which distinguishes human beings. I’d like to eat, love, and sleep, to feel compassion and to cry with laughter, to share and to be excluded, to dance and to fall prostrate, to procreate and to disavow, to fall and to rise up, to pray and to blaspheme, and however to live as a weak and despicable man, such as we all are until we die, trusting, even though with many doubts, in Your Mercy. What I mean is that I want to do everything that is ordinary and extraordinary on Earth. Then, when I return to Paradise, followed and awaited by all those I have loved, I want to be your dog, so that I can curl up at your feet and dream my simple dreams.

      And since time in Paradise is relative, and all that happens is in the eternal present, after listening to all this, God got up, a little bored by all those praises and all those endless hymns, and went off to a faraway cloud, followed by his two dogs.

      AUGUSTINE

      Augustine was a simple man.

      One morning, as he was walking along the beach, he chanced upon a beautiful blond-haired boy who was earnestly picking up water from the sea with a spoon and pouring it into a little bucket.

      As he continued his activity the boy smiled at Augustine, who smiled back.

      Augustine, in his simplicity, was not interested in the boy’s game and he continued on his way without even thinking for a second.

      It did seem rather stupid and pointless to him though.

      Further on however, he almost tripped over a cup which contained a large spoon. The cup was sturdy and red; it looked a bit like a heart, whereas the spoon was in fact just an ordinary soup ladle.

      Remembering the child’s game he had just been watching, he smiled, picked up the cup and the ladle and sat down at the water’s edge.

      The sea gave him a unique feeling of calmness and joy, and in that state of mind he compared the sea to God and His love, so great as to extend out to infinity, a love which is somehow always quietly available for everyone, and always in abundance.

      And God smiled affectionately at Augustine’s simplicity.

      So Augustine thought intensely of someone he loved, and keeping that thought in mind he took a ladle of water from that infinite sea, and he poured it into the cup which so resembled his heart.

      The cup was filled to more than half of what it seemed to be able to hold.

      He liked this game.

      So Augustine continued to dedicate all the thoughts of love that he was able summon, person after person, animal after animal, plant after plant, dedicating one ladle of water after another, and so continuing to transfer the infinity of the sea, ladle after ladle, into the red cup which miraculously continued to receive, to hold and contain all the ladles of water that Augustine continued to fill from the sea, empty into the cup and fill again.

      Not a single drop was wasted, the sea was obviously the same as before, yet the cup seemed able to contain infinitely all the water in the world.

      THE CINEMA

      On one side of the road there was a cinema.

      In front of it was the sea.

      Every day many different people went to the cinema in search of thrills; to watch the same show repeated over and over, several times a day, never changing.

      Every day nobody, apart from a few courting couples who in fact loved looking at each other, would go to the sea to watch the spectacular shows of sunrise and sunset; each day miraculously different and thrilling.

      DIGNITY

      Two very poor men lived in the same neighbourhood of a town.

      The first, who was very cunning, lived as a beggar.

      Anyone passing by couldn’t help but hear his moans and his pleading, and couldn’t help but give him some change.

      His sheepish demeanour, his eyes always cast downwards, the man’s carefully studied limp, moved most people to pity.

      Being well aware of his rights as a citizen, he had access to all the soup kitchens and services, all the various types of assistance that the town’s social system could provide, from clothes, medical care, to assisted housing and everything else that could be obtained for free.

      He knew how to make people feel sorry for him and help him, and when he didn’t receive the help he expected and felt he deserved, he would take offence and be resentful almost to the point of violence.

      It is my right, to be assisted was his motto.

      And that everyone has a duty to assist just him was its corollary.

      So he lived without effort and in fact quite comfortably, in a well-concealed way, and he had such a high opinion of himself that he could say:

      I, gentlemen, am a man who knows how to look after himself.

      When he died many pitied him for his difficult life.

      The second man, much poorer than the first, did not beg.

      Although he had nothing, he never asked for anything. His life was one of suffering and privation, and he had trouble making ends meet on the little pension he received after his many years of work.

      If it hadn’t been for the few lucky events that had happened and the unexpected help he’d received from people he didn’t know, he wouldn’t have managed to survive so long.

      But he kept on smiling, and he thanked the good God that he was still able to walk beyond the limits of the ugly suburbs, and pause to look at the lilies in the fields and the birds in the sky.

      He often felt that he was quite similar to them, and his joy was such that he couldn’t help giving a coin to the neighbourhood beggar that so moved him to pity with his continuous lamenting.

      All

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