A very good morning to the HONOURABLE JUDGES, LOYAL TIME-

KEEPER, MR/MS MC, TEACHERS and Friends.

I’m Angela Melcy and I’m going to tell you a story entitled Live Like a Bamboo
Tree.

Deep in a village lived an old man and a very young man. The old man’s name
is Mr. Oldwise and the young man’s name is Hearty. Mr. Oldwise was a quiet
person.
He really liked to speak about everything to everyone. One day Mr. Oldwise
was doing his job in front of his house. Hearty came and sat next to him.
“What are you doing, Mr. Oldwise?” asked Hearty.
“What do you think I am doing anyway?” asked the old man briefly.
“Well, looks like you are making a chair of bamboo.”
“Why don’t you just buy one instead of putting yourself in difficulty?” asked
the young man.
Again the old man was sucking his pipe deeply and said, “Who says I am in
difficulty?”
“Ehmm, you’re too old to make such thing.”
“That’s what you think, not what I think.”

Hearty paid attention to what this old man was doing. He just couldn’t hold his
tongue not to say a word. So, he began to tell the old man how he had wanted to
be successful person in his life, and that’s what he was after.
Hearing all the words spoken by Hearty, the old man just said, “Remember young man, be
like a bamboo tree when you become what you want to be.”

“What’s that to mean, Old Man?” asked Hearty with a confused look.
“You’ll understand it someday,” answered Mr. Oldwise.
Time went by so fast. Hearty had been wandering in some places, searching for
what he wanted: success. Good fate had been on his side apparently. After he
got what he wanted, he went back to his hometown.The first person that he
wanted to see was his old friend, Mr. Oldwise. As usual, the oldman wasdoing
something in the porch.
“Hello, Mr. Oldwise. Long time no see. I hope you still remember me.”
“I see you’ve changed a lot now,” said the old man.

“Yes of course. I was nothing a log time ago but I have everything now. I can
conquer this world. Pretty much easily, though,” said Hearty arrogantly.
“No more words to say, Old Man?” asked Hearty.
The old man just shook his head. With the power and money that Hearty was
well-known among the other villagers. Everybody was talking about his
success. Hearty was more and more becoming such a big-headed person. One
day Hearty felt that it was the right time for him to find a wife. He asked his
servant to announce this to every woman in the village. Soon the news was
spreading, and the parents were racing to
make their daughters become Hearty’s wife.
On a sunny day, Hearty took a walk alone. When he almost reached the
river, he saw a woman passing by. He couldn’t stop looking at her. “Oh, she is
very beautiful,” he murmured to himself. He then followed her. To his surprise, the
woman went to Mr. Oldwise’s house.
He, then, asked his servant to find out who she was.
When he knew that the woman was Mr. Oldwise’s granddaughter, he went there in rush.
“I came here for one purpose. I want to take your granddaughter to be my wife.”
“I’m afraid I cannot allow that.”

Hearty couldn’t accept the old man refusal. He felt that it was insult for him because he, as a
respected man, didn’t want anyone to look down on him. So, the next day he came
to the house of the old man again.
Mr. Oldwise said, “Why do you insist on taking her to be your wife? There are
many other beautiful women here.”
“But they are not as beautiful as your granddaughter.”
“Alright then I’m giving you one challenge.”
“I’ll take it. What is it, Old Man?”
“Do you remember I ever told you to become like a bamboo tree when you have reached
everything you want?”
“Yes.”
“I am perfectly sure until now you haven’t understood that yet. Am I right?”
Hearty felt a bit embarrassed
by all this. He then said. “Carry on.”
“Find out what it is and try to beat yourself. When you have found out the answer, come to
me. Then you shall get what you want.”
Hearty took the challenge. It took him many days to understand what that
meant.“Aha,” he said to himself. “I finally know what he meant by beating
myself.”

Hearty came to the oldman’s house in the next morning.

“So you’re here. Did you get the answer?” asked the old man.

“Yes. And I’m telling you now. Bamboo is strong when it’s young but it’s getting stronger
when it’s getting old and old. It stands erectly when it’s young but when it’s old
and it starts to duck. That means when we are young we have to work hard with
great spirit, but when we get older we shouldn’t be arrogant because of what
we’ve achieved during young days. The success we’ve got shouldn’t make us
big-headed but humble instead.”
“And I should beat myself from being arrogant now.”
The old man said, “You have understood it now.
“I’m going to change myself into someone who is not arrogant person. With the
power and money, I’ll use them wisely. I’ll use them only for kindness. Thank
you, Sir, for reminding me of what I am now.”
Finally, he let him take the woman to be his wife. The three lived happily then.

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