THE OLD MAN AND HIS GRANDSON
Once there was a very old, old man who lived with his son. Because the man was so old, he was nearly blind and deaf, and his knees trembled when he tried to walk.
When he sat at the table to eat, he could not take up his food without spilling it. So he often dropped some of it on the table and sometimes on his clothes.
His son and daughter-in-law did not like this. They said that the old man should not come to the table. So they made him sit in a corner behind the oven. There they gave him his food in an old bowl, and often did not give him enough.
The old man was very sad, but he said nothing.
One day his hands shook so much that he could not hold the bowl. It fell to the ground and broke to pieces.
His son's wife scolded him, but he did not answer. He only sighed.
Then they bought a cheap wooden bowl, and gave him his food in that.
One day, as he sat behind the oven, his little grandson was sitting on the ground by him. The little boy had some pieces of wood which he was trying to fit together.
“What are you making?”asked the old man.
“I am making a wooden trough.”said the child.
“What are you making a trough for?”asked the old man.
“It is for father and mother to feed out of when I grow big.”answered the boy.
When the son heard these words, he looked at his wife. They soon began to cry. Then they begged the old man to forgive them.
After that they let the old man sit at the table with them, and even if some of the food was spilt on the table, or on his clothes, they did not say anything.