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Sunday, February 08, 2004
Flavier: The parable of the luckiest farmer
By Juan Flavier
THE FARMER was an average man by barrio standards. He was far from wealthy but enjoyed all the minimum comforts of daily life. His yearly harvest of rice and the weekly vegetable crops covered the basic expenses to keep body and soul together.
He had a modest house. His children were adequately fed and attended the barrio school. Every so often, they had extra income for new clothes and, for the farmer, the luxury of being able to bet in the sabong.
So it came as some surprise when the farmer announced to his best friend, "P’re, from now on, call me masuwerte (lucky)."
"Why, what happened? Did you win in jueteng?" his friend asked.
"More than that. Imagine, yesterday during that thunderstorm... I was standing under the coconut tree beside my rice field. No sooner had I walked five steps away when a lighting bolt struck the tree. It instantly crashed down on the exact spot where I had been standing!"
"You are really masuwerte," agreed the friend.
A month later, the farmer ran to his best friend and exclaimed, "P’re, now you have to call me mas masuwerte (luckier)."
"What is it this time?" asked the friend eagerly. "Did you inherit a fortune?"
"Better than that. Remember this morning I went to town? Well, on the way back, the mayor requested me to give up my seat in the bus for his nephew. I did so out of courtesy. But the bus had an accident and the mayor’s nephew was crushed and critically wounded on the seat where I should have been!"
"Wow! That is truly something. I will call you mas masuwerte from now on."
Still a week later, the farmer was shaking with excitement as he shared the news with his friend.
"This is really unbelievable. Now, you really have to call me pinakamasuwerte (luckiest). Imagine, a man was shot dead by the husband of the woman he was having an affair with. They were caught in bed together and, bang! the man was finished this very morning."
"Okay, I heard what you said," commented his best friend. "But what does that have to do with your being pinakamasuwerte?"
"You have to understand," the farmer explained, "if that shooting occurred yesterday, I would be a dead man!"
(February 8, 2004 issue)
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