Mañalac, Laurence D.

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On the Story of the Moth

One night "Doña" Teodora was reading the story of "The Moth and
the Flame" in a book, El Amigo de los Ninos (The Friend of the
Children).
Young Jose was not listening to his mother for he was attracted by
two moths flying around the flame of the coconut oil lamp.
The young moth, disobeying its mother's advice, flew too near the
flame and got killed. It felt dead into the hot oil of the lamp.
Rizal was deeply attracted by the death of the brave little moth
that he did not notice when his mother ended the reading of the
story. All his attention was on the light of the oil lamp and on the
dead little moth.
The light that caused the little moth's death appeared to him "more
beautiful" than ever. He justified the tragic fate of the little moth.
Rizal believed that "it is worthy for a man to sacrifice his life for a
noble cause."

"The Story of the Moth" teaches us about listening to our

elders who are more experienced than us, never tell a lie
throughout our life, never give up in our painful times as it
makes us stronger.
The story of the Moth is a tale of a mother and his younger
child whom she teaches about the rules of life. She tells him
that for achieving success in life, one must have to take risks
and prepare for the worst consequences.