A Thief of Nature

Once upon a time, there were two good friends. The first one's name was David, a wealthy man from the North region. The other one was called Johnny, a poor man from the South. One day Johnny went to see David to consult him on the secret to wealth.

David said to Jonny, "I was once struggling to make ends meet just like you are. I'm a little better off now. The secret is to be able to seize the opportunity when it presents itself, to steal and rob... Everyday I schemed to do just that. Thus, I was able to get by in the first year. The second year, I already had a surplus. By the third year, I had to lease a warehouse to store what I had."

Johnny got so excited over what David said about having to steal and rob, he left for home before David had a chance to explain to him the ways to do that. From that day on, Jonny was literally stealing and robbing. He stayed home during the day. As night fall, he sneaked into other people's houses and grabbed anything he could lay his hands on. Sure enough, he was already getting by in the first year. The second year, he had more than he needed. By the third year, he had to rent storage space for all the stolen property.

Unfortunately for Johnny, his action came to light one day. He was taken to the police, sentenced to prison and had all his property confiscated.

After he served his sentence, Johnny went immediately to see David and complained bitterly about the ordeal that he had to go through. David said to him, "My friend! Never did I think that you would totally misunderstand me. It's a pity that you did not wait to hear how I 'steal' and 'rob' before you went into action. What I steal I steal from the seasons and the resources of the land. Everything in the universe: the forests, the field, the sun, the moon and all the stars, cloud and mist, wind and rain - these are the things that I steal and rob from. I get close to these things, befriend them, depend on them, understand them, observe the changes, thus enabling me to know when I should plant and harvest. I hunt the animals on land and catch the fish from the sea. In a way I 'stole' and 'rob' these things from the nature because they did not belong to me. What I do is perfectly legal. As for other people's property, they were earned with other people's labour and it is certainly wrong to steal them. It served you right to got to jail for stealing from other people."

Finally, Johnny understood. He really regretted what he did and made up his mind to be an upright person from that time on.

- S.Y. Fan
- Harry Ng