J0036
The Parable of the Big Man and the Small Man
By Renato Constantino
Once upon a time there was a Big Man and a
Small Man. The Big Man had a garden. The
Small Man had no garden. So the Small Man
worked in the Big Man’s garden.
In the beginning, the Small Man was a Good
Man. He worked all day long and took care of
the garden. The garden yielded golden
tomatoes. The tomatoes gave the Big Man nice
clothes, nice cars, nice houses and a nice wife.
The Small Man did not have nice clothes, nice
house and a nice wife. He knew he was a Small
Man. He knew that the golden tomatoes he
raised belonged to the Big Man.
As a reward for his good work, the Big Man gave
him a few tomatoes. The Small Man was glad.
After all, he had no garden of his own. And the
few tomatoes that the Big Man gave him were
enough to keep him sturdy and virile so he could
raise more tomatoes for the Big Man and bring
up more Little Men to raise more tomatoes for
other Big Men.
So the Big Man said that the Small Man was a
Good Man.
But one day, the Small Man became a Bad Man.
He made friends with other Small Men who were
Bad Men. The Small Men who were Bad Men
wanted more golden tomatoes from the Big
Men. That is why they were Bad Men.
The Bad Men paraded around demanding more
tomatoes. They carried placards calling the Big
Men names. Some of them refused to raise
golden tomatoes. Many got the golden tomatoes
of the Big Men. And there were Small Men who
were very, very Bad Men because they wanted
to have gardens too. The Small Man became a
Bad Man because he went with the Bad Men.
The Small Man broke the Big Man’s heart. The
Big Man asked the Small man to become a
Good Man again. He reminded him of the good
things he had done for the Small Man. After all,
the Small Man had no garden and he could not
have gotten even a few tomatoes if the Big Man
had not allowed him to work in his garden. True,
he was given only a few tomatoes. But he did
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not need nice clothes, a nice house and a nice
wife because he was not a Big Man.
But the Small Man would not listen to the Big
Man. He remained a Bad Man.
So, in a last effort, the Big Man told the Small
Man that if he wanted to go to heaven he must
become a Good Man again. The Big Man asked
the Black Robed Man to talk to the Small Man.
But the Small Man did not want to go to Heaven
with the Big Man and the Black Robed Man. He
only wanted tomatoes.
Along with the other Bad Men, the Small Man
became a very, very Bad Man.
So the Big Men got very angry. They called for
the Brown Men with Guns.
The Small Men who were Bad Men thought that
the Brown Men with Guns were going to kill
them and send them to heaven.
But they did not want to go to Heaven and eat
heavenly tomatoes. They wanted their own
gardens to grow their own tomatoes here on
earth. They had become very, very, very Bad
Men.
So they fought the Men with Guns. But more
Brown men with guns came. And the Brown
Men were sent, not to heaven, but to jail.
In jail, the Small Man learned that the Big Man is
always right.
Source:
Nera - Lauron, M. (2002). Gabay sa Pagtuturo
ng Kasaysayan at Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas.
IBON Fundation Inc. Databank & Research
Center.
*Property of STI
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