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Monday, September 08, 2003
Flavier: The parable of the highway accident
By Juan Flavier
IT WAS a nasty highway accident. The vehicle from the city was speeding, although not over the limit. On a curve, there was a dog lazing at the middle of the road. The car tried to avoid it but too late. The left fender struck the dog with great force.
By swerving to the left lane, the car crashed head-on to a kalesa. With a loud neigh, the horse fell to the ground. The kalesa was a total wreck. And before the car could stop, it sideswiped a farmer on the footpath by the road. The farmer sustained a broken back but managed to walk with a limp.
Finally, the car screeched to a stop in a dust cloud. Visibly shaken, the driver stepped out to check on the damage and injuries. He looked like a respectable man - well dressed and neat in his polo barong. His face was pale from the harrowing accident and was quite agitated.
He checked on the kalesa, which was reduced to a heap of splintered wood. The wheels were shattered to pieces except for the twisted iron rim. By a miracle, the kutsero was unharmed. But the farmer limped and grimaced with pain as he approached.
In an amiable tone, the kutsero produced a flat bottle from his rear pocket. "Here, take a sip. You look shaken up really bad." The car driver was glad to have the lambanog to calm his nerves. "Take another drink," the kutsero urged.
"That's very kind of you," said the gentleman from the city. "I am glad you are unharmed. But I am afraid your kalesa is a total loss. And your horse is practically useless. And that dog looks like it will expire any minute." He looked at the farmer and asked, "Are you in great pain? Sit down and I will bring you to the hospital in town."
The farmer sat and leaned back against a tree by the roadside. In a whisper, the farmer said to the kutsero, "Why are you so gracious to that driver? He almost killed your horse and us. The dog, too."
The kutsero smiled and whispered back, "Wait till the police smells his breath."
The car driver turned out to be the mayor in the adjacent province. So in the preliminary investigation, the injured farmer was made to look like the culprit. Mostly because he had to deal with the mayor's lawyer.
"The mayor was been driving in this highway for over 30 years and is experienced in handling a car," said the lawyer with a flourish. "You, old farmer, are obviously at fault."
"How can that be when I was walking on the side of the road? And you must know I have been walking alongside that road for the past 60 years so I have more experience. And I am the one with the serious injury."
The lawyer glared, "Then how come you told the highway patrol you were completely well when asked at the site of the accident?"
"Well, the policeman looked at the critically-injured dog. Finding it near death, he shot the animal dead. Then he examined the horse. When he saw that two left legs were severed, he promptly shot the horse dead. That was when the policeman asked how I was. Naturally, I replied I was completely alright."
(September 8, 2003 issue)
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