On Life 184 – The Story Hasn’t Ended Yet – August 18, 2017

In the previous article, we resumed tackling some human principles that govern people’s dealing, such as treating others as they want to treat them and understanding their points of view which may differ from theirs. We presented the story of “Red Riding Hood” who saved a small animal, called him, “Little Monster”, and took care of him. Yet, he fled from her. But, after a few days, he returned, put his head in her hat and slept! It was only then that she reflected, “At last my monster got to understand what I did for him.”

The story did not end, but its incidents continued. Yet, this time it was told from the little monster’s point of view. On a sunny day, while he was playing on a tree’s branch, he found a big monster hurrying to and snatching him. He did not know where the big monster was taking him until he found himself in a water basin inside a small dark place. He was in pain. Every day, he was dragged to walk to for long distances aimlessly. He used to feel humiliated.

One day, the hunter took him to place full of similar big monsters like him where he felt annoyed by their strokes as they played with him! Also, the big monster made him a narrow dungeon from carton and wrote on it, “House”, whereas his true house was the forest. It came to pass that one night the big monster put something tight on his head which made him feel terrible, as his temperature started to rise. He did not know what to do until he found him opening the window. So, he threw the hat away and fled hurriedly to the forest.

After a while, the weather got very cold. So, he yearned to returning to the big monster’s house. He looked for him until he found him standing somewhere, wearing a red hat. So, he entered quickly to seek some warmth, intending to return to the beautiful forest on the following day!

This might be a children’s tale. Yet, it emphasizes an important human principle: others do not have to see things the way you do. One person’s view differs from the other’s. So does his interpretation of things. For example, the girl’s felt the animal was in great danger and that she saved his life was, while he felt he was playing on a tree’s branch, then was snatched! This applies to all the issues of life. There are different interpretations of the same incident. Also, successful human relations need good listening and understanding lest one party misunderstand the other or see him as a big or small monster.

To be continued …

General Bishop

Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center