A DOG'S LIFE

There are few adolescents who appreciate getting up early
in the morning to accompany their father as he works in their
olive grove.

Joe was no exception.

While his dog, Lolito, followed them, his father repeatedly
said, "Take up your work cheerfully. The morning is fresh.
You are looking at Mother Nature, offering to you her pristine
gift. For you, the cicadas have become silent, the eucalyptus
trees sway gently and salute you when you pass; the earth,
grown tender with the dews, is opening to you."

Being met by a skeptical and perturbed look from his son,
Joe's father punctuated his words of encouragement with,
"and, in any case, we are left with no choice, for work makes
the man."

But, on that day, the only things that drew Joe's attention
as he gazed around, were the birds in the sky, the bees spinning
around in the air and down towards the earthworm that wriggled
between the layers of sod. The spade was too heavy and, as Joe
rested his weight on its handle, he found it was far more
pleasant to daydream.

"What do you hope to gain by this?" shouted his father.
"The field will not get ploughed by itself!"

But the idleness so easily appreciated by most adolescents,
inspired a thought in him, and filled him with the courage to
speak out bluntly to his father: "What abject slaves work
makes us! Look at the animals. Do they have to kill themselves
with work when nature provides them with places to rest and for
cover, and time for playing all the while. We have only to do
likewise, because the world is well thought of and we can
rely on it. The dogs are happier than us, we should imitate them!"

His father looked at him. But, surprisingly, Joe found that
he did not fly into a rage. He merely said: "As you please, Joe.
Since you want to live happily, like a dog, go and rest with Lolito
under the big olive tree. I shall finish the work myself."

Intrigued by his father's sudden magnanimity, and all too happy
to drop his spade, Joe obeyed and stretched out under the freshness
of a century-old olive tree.

At the end of the day, his father, without a word, signaled
his son that it was time to return home. And, although Joe had
not worked, he was extremely hungry.

He was about to pounce on the bread and the soup of black beans,
when his father suddenly stopped him. "No Joe! You have said
yourself that you would like to live like a dog. Well, in our
house, Lolito eats last, after the men finish. He does not work
and, therefore, he deserves only the left over food.
Go and join him!"

That evening, Joe did not eat, because his father did not
have any left over food. He went to sleep late, and with an
empty stomach. But, the next day, he got up early in the morning
without any fuss. He walked behind his father and worked as hard
as his father through the entire day. In the evening, they ate
together and his father offered him his own share of meat.
"Because you have earned it", he said, simply, without adding
any other word.

The pain of daily work has discouraged us all. It's slow and
hard. But, are we to consider ourselves as slaves, rather than
like demi-gods who, by their courage and work, are capable of
transforming the surrounding world, and molding it into their
images? Work surely is one of the noble and praiseworthy ways
of transforming the world to make it more attractive.
And, each man can contribute a stone to construction of that
edifice.

...................................................................

"Look for an occupation that you like, and you will not need
to labor for a single day in your life."
Confucius.


Christian Godefrey