“When do you want to put my hands back for me?”
This story is adapted from a story written in Chinese emailed by a primary school classmate of mine, Khor Boon Seah. The story written in Chinese is shown at the foot note below.
On a remote outskirt of a town in California, there was a four year old girl with the name of Anna. Her father was a truck driver. He had bought a new truck which he liked very much. Everyday he would spend some time to do anything and everything to make sure that it was always clean, shiny and beautiful.
One day, Anna sneaked into the garage to play without her father’s knowledge. On the floor laid a screw driver. She used it as a pen to draw a picture of her own imagination on the truck body, thus adding scratches to the shining metallic painted surface.
At that moment her father happened to pass by. He was very furious to see his truck being tempered with. He gave Anna a few tight slaps and then tied her hands with a wire which he found in the garage. The other end of the wire was then hung to a beam on the roof of the garage. Anna was left to stand in the garage as a punishment.
Anna’s father had totally forgotten the matter until he came back from town four hours later. When he saw the girl, it was found that her hands had already become stiff and numb due to prolong hours of poor blood circulation. Her father got panic.
He quickly rushed her to the nearest hospital for treatment. Unfortunately her hands had to be amputated to save her life.
Anna was too young to be aware of what had happened to her hands then. She cried as she could not endure the pain due to the surgery. It never crossed her mind regarding the repercussions of not having a pair of normal hands when she was going to grow up as a young lady. Her father was extremely sorry for the misstep of punishment he had taken on her child.
Half a year later, Anna’s father sent his truck to a workshop for re-spray. The truck looked entirely new when it came back from the workshop. Anna was overjoyed to see the seemingly new truck. She said to her father, “Daddy! Daddy! Your truck looks pretty; it’s the same as a new one!”
In the next minute, she raised both her arms to show her father, while at the same time she asked, “But, when do you want to put my hands back for me?”
Anna’s question came as a fatal blow to her father. It was as if a big hammer was striking at his head, coupling with a dagger pierced through his heart. He could not bear the guilt that had persistently haunted him for the past few months. Instantly and without hesitation, he committed suicide with a pistol shot directly at his own head. Bang! He died in front of his poor child.
Many people seem to get their priorities wrongly set. Just like Anna’s father who was so engrossed with his treasured truck even at the expense of his child’s hands. He could use money to buy back a new truck if he wanted,but he knew fully well that he could never buy back Anna’s hands with any amount of money.
Whatever money that one can buy can never be comparable to things that money cannot acquire. Love is a typical example that money cannot buy. It has to be nurtured tenderly and cultivated perpetually over a long period of time. So, each and every one of us should not be stingy to show our love to our dear ones.
Foot note:
在美國的加州有一個小女孩大約是 4 歲
她的父親有一台大卡車，她的父親非常喜歡那台卡車
總是為那台車做全套的保養，以保持卡車的美觀
一天，小女孩拿著硬物在他父親的卡車鈑金上劃下了無數的刮痕 !!
她的父親盛怒之下，用鐵絲把小女孩的手綁起來
然後吊著小女孩的手，讓她站在車庫罰站
當父親想起小女兒在車庫罰站時，已經是 4個小時過後了！
趕到車庫時，小女孩的手已經被鐵絲綁的血液不通!
父親送她到急診室時，已經需要截去小女孩的手掌了
因為，手掌部分的組織已經都壞死，如不截去手掌 ...
她生命是非常危險，甚至可能會危害到小女孩的生命 ...
所以小女孩就這樣失去了她的一雙手掌了 !
但是她不懂..... 她不懂到底是發生了什麼事在她的身上 ....
而她的父親也因為這樣感到萬分的愧疚 !
過了約半年後
小女孩的父親的卡車進廠重新烤漆，又像全新的一樣!!
當他把卡車開回家後，小女孩看著重新烤漆過的卡車
對著她的父親說
“爸爸! 你的卡車好漂亮唷！看起來就像是新卡車”
這時小女孩無邪的伸出了她那截斷的雙手，對她的父親說
“ 但是你什麼時候要把我的手還給我?”
你們知道當那位父親聽到小女孩問他的問題時，發生了什麼事嗎 ?
那位父親在小女孩的面前 ..... 舉槍自殺 .......
很多人分不清 .....到底什麼是重要的？
只會無知迷失在自我的喜好當中 ........
就如有些人會去 慈濟幫忙掃街，但家事從來不管 .......
有些人會花很多錢去建廟，但對自己的親人如鐵公雞 .....
有些人在外面和言悅色，但對自己的卻家人暴躁如雷 ......
這就是說 那個父親不知是車子重要，或是女兒重要呢？
而遺憾的事..... 世間到處充滿了這些事 .....
而且就在你我之間 ....
只要是金錢可以買到的；
都比不上無價的可貴，
請不要吝嗇，多給家人一點愛！
This story is adapted from a story written in Chinese emailed by a primary school classmate of mine, Khor Boon Seah. The story written in Chinese is shown at the foot note below.
On a remote outskirt of a town in California, there was a four year old girl with the name of Anna. Her father was a truck driver. He had bought a new truck which he liked very much. Everyday he would spend some time to do anything and everything to make sure that it was always clean, shiny and beautiful.
One day, Anna sneaked into the garage to play without her father’s knowledge. On the floor laid a screw driver. She used it as a pen to draw a picture of her own imagination on the truck body, thus adding scratches to the shining metallic painted surface.
At that moment her father happened to pass by. He was very furious to see his truck being tempered with. He gave Anna a few tight slaps and then tied her hands with a wire which he found in the garage. The other end of the wire was then hung to a beam on the roof of the garage. Anna was left to stand in the garage as a punishment.
Anna’s father had totally forgotten the matter until he came back from town four hours later. When he saw the girl, it was found that her hands had already become stiff and numb due to prolong hours of poor blood circulation. Her father got panic.
He quickly rushed her to the nearest hospital for treatment. Unfortunately her hands had to be amputated to save her life.
Anna was too young to be aware of what had happened to her hands then. She cried as she could not endure the pain due to the surgery. It never crossed her mind regarding the repercussions of not having a pair of normal hands when she was going to grow up as a young lady. Her father was extremely sorry for the misstep of punishment he had taken on her child.
Half a year later, Anna’s father sent his truck to a workshop for re-spray. The truck looked entirely new when it came back from the workshop. Anna was overjoyed to see the seemingly new truck. She said to her father, “Daddy! Daddy! Your truck looks pretty; it’s the same as a new one!”
In the next minute, she raised both her arms to show her father, while at the same time she asked, “But, when do you want to put my hands back for me?”
Anna’s question came as a fatal blow to her father. It was as if a big hammer was striking at his head, coupling with a dagger pierced through his heart. He could not bear the guilt that had persistently haunted him for the past few months. Instantly and without hesitation, he committed suicide with a pistol shot directly at his own head. Bang! He died in front of his poor child.
Many people seem to get their priorities wrongly set. Just like Anna’s father who was so engrossed with his treasured truck even at the expense of his child’s hands. He could use money to buy back a new truck if he wanted,but he knew fully well that he could never buy back Anna’s hands with any amount of money.
Whatever money that one can buy can never be comparable to things that money cannot acquire. Love is a typical example that money cannot buy. It has to be nurtured tenderly and cultivated perpetually over a long period of time. So, each and every one of us should not be stingy to show our love to our dear ones.
Foot note:
在美國的加州有一個小女孩大約是 4 歲
她的父親有一台大卡車，她的父親非常喜歡那台卡車
總是為那台車做全套的保養，以保持卡車的美觀
一天，小女孩拿著硬物在他父親的卡車鈑金上劃下了無數的刮痕 !!
她的父親盛怒之下，用鐵絲把小女孩的手綁起來
然後吊著小女孩的手，讓她站在車庫罰站
當父親想起小女兒在車庫罰站時，已經是 4個小時過後了！
趕到車庫時，小女孩的手已經被鐵絲綁的血液不通!
父親送她到急診室時，已經需要截去小女孩的手掌了
因為，手掌部分的組織已經都壞死，如不截去手掌 ...
她生命是非常危險，甚至可能會危害到小女孩的生命 ...
所以小女孩就這樣失去了她的一雙手掌了 !
但是她不懂..... 她不懂到底是發生了什麼事在她的身上 ....
而她的父親也因為這樣感到萬分的愧疚 !
過了約半年後
小女孩的父親的卡車進廠重新烤漆，又像全新的一樣!!
當他把卡車開回家後，小女孩看著重新烤漆過的卡車
對著她的父親說
“爸爸! 你的卡車好漂亮唷！看起來就像是新卡車”
這時小女孩無邪的伸出了她那截斷的雙手，對她的父親說
“ 但是你什麼時候要把我的手還給我?”
你們知道當那位父親聽到小女孩問他的問題時，發生了什麼事嗎 ?
那位父親在小女孩的面前 ..... 舉槍自殺 .......
很多人分不清 .....到底什麼是重要的？
只會無知迷失在自我的喜好當中 ........
就如有些人會去 慈濟幫忙掃街，但家事從來不管 .......
有些人會花很多錢去建廟，但對自己的親人如鐵公雞 .....
有些人在外面和言悅色，但對自己的卻家人暴躁如雷 ......
這就是說 那個父親不知是車子重要，或是女兒重要呢？
而遺憾的事..... 世間到處充滿了這些事 .....
而且就在你我之間 ....
只要是金錢可以買到的；
都比不上無價的可貴，
請不要吝嗇，多給家人一點愛！
1 comment:
this is a very sad and touching story, this father showed more love for his material possession than for his child. she was only four, what understanding could she possible have had of not knowing what she did was wrong and to be punish for in that state. but at the end I guess he couldn't bear the pain of what he had done to take his own life.
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