The Mangoes Fell in a Storm暴風雨中掉落的芒果

Ishana Verma

I love the power of a storm. It is oneof the most amazing shows of nature andwhen it passes， it leaves behind a light thatis nothing short of magnificent1. That waswhy I went for a walk after the storm.

In the middle of my walk， I saw twoboys and a little girl bouncing2 across thestreet like rabbits， dragging3 a bag behindthem. I didnt know what the matter wasand didnt care to know. I kept walking andwatched the kids disappear into a lane4.

A few minutes later， I saw thechildren again. They were collectingmangoes that had fallen on the streetsfrom the trees in the storm. I watched thechildren as they went from one mango treeto another. One of the kids soon realizedthat I was observing5 them. He got a littlenervous for a moment but then he decidedto ignore6 me and kept picking themangoes off the street. I walked up tothem and asked，“What are you doing？”

Startled7， the two boys said nothingbut the little girl said excitedly， “We arecollecting mangoes.”

I smiled and they kept collectingthe mangoes.

Not all the mangoes were in goodshape. After all， they had fallen from thetrees onto the concrete8. The childreninspected9 each mango they found. If itwas any good， they put it in their bag; ifnot， they threw it away.

was also walking along with them，though I kept a comfortable distance10.

Time passed. I looked at their bagand realized that they had more thanenough for themselves and yet， they weresearching for more mangoes. I noticedanother strange thing—they hadnt eateneven a single mango from the bag.

“Dont you think you have enoughmangoes for yourselves？”I asked.

They looked at me but said nothing.After a moment， the little girl said，“Weare not collecting them for ourselves. Weare going to sell them.”

One of the boys elbowed11 her atonce. It was clear that they did not want totell their plan to me.

After a while， when the boys went alittle further to pick the mangoes， the littlegirl walked up to me slowly and told metheir secret.

“We are going to sell these mangoes sothat we can buy gift for our mother. Todayis her birthday. We spent all morningthinking about what we could give her， butwe had no answer until the storm hit. Oneof my brothers came up with the idea ofpicking up the fallen mangoes and sellingthem to get the money for her gift.”

I was impressed12 by her words.

The little girl went back to join herbrothers to inspect and pick up themangoes， and I stood there processing theinformation I had just received.

They were young children. The oldestwas probably ten years old， the younger boymaybe eight and the little girl couldnt bemore than six. What could I do？

After some more streets and a lot moremangoes， the children decided that they hadenough and went towards the market. I hadbeen with them in their journey. So Idecided to stay a little longer and watch theculmination13 of their efforts.

I watched them as they put down thebag on the side of the road， poured thecontents14 onto the grass， divided themangoes according to their quality andsize and then put them carefully on thebag. Their prices were low.

The mangoes sold quite quicklybecause of their cheap price. Only a fewmangoes remained now—they were so fewthat people didnt even stop to look at them.

I decided to step forward and offeredto buy them all. “Well， I need somemangoes too. How much are these？”

The little girl smiled at me and theboys said，“Eight rupees15.”

I took out a ten-rupee note and gaveit to them. They started to fumble16 intheir bag to give me change.

“Dont worry， keep the change，”Isaid. But they refused to listen to me andgave me a two-rupee coin.

“So， have you decided what gift youwant to buy for your mother？”I asked.

The boys glared17 at their sister—ithad been their secret and she hadnt beenable to keep it to herself.

Finally， one of the boys said，“Wehavent decided yet. We will count themoney and then see what we can afford.”

They poured out all their money onthe bag and counted it. It was a little overa hundred rupees. By the looks theyexchanged， it was more than they hadexpected. Then they started to discusswhat they should buy. The three of themdidnt make any meaningful progress for along time， until the little girl found anumbrella salesman.

“Mom could use an umbrella. Shealways came home soaking18 wet，”sug -gested the little girl. Her brothers agreed.

I stood there watching them as theyran towards the umbrella salesman andstarted sifting19 through different patternsand colors， but the little girl was veryinterested in a beautiful white umbrellawith red flowers all over it.

She pointed to it and said， “I wantthat one.”

But that umbrella was out of theirprice range20. No matter how much theumbrella salesman tried to explain that toher， she wouldnt understand. It looked asif she was about to cry.

I couldnt just stand and watch anymore. The children were facing theumbrella salesman and had their backstowards me. I pulled out a fifty-rupee notefrom my pocket and waved it at theumbrella salesman. He glanced21 at me. Iplaced my finger on my lips and gestured22for him to be quiet too. He understoodwhat I meant. He gave them the umbrellaand took whatever money they gave him.

As the children went on their waywith their gift， the umbrella salesmanslowly walked up to me， took the fiftyrupeenote from me and walked away.

I know that many would call what Idid “charity23”， but it wasnt. What reallygives money its value is the need thatsomeone has for it. For me， the value of afifty-rupee note is a chocolate bar or maybea bag of chips. But to those kids， that samefifty -rupee note was a way to show theirmother the appreciation they had for herlove and care. They had just increased thevalue of my fifty-rupee note a million fold.

After that day， I looked for thosechildren whenever I walked past themarket， hoping never to see them sellingfruits by the side of the road again.

I never saw them again.

我喜歡暴風雨的威力。這是大自然最令人驚嘆的表演之一，而暴風雨過后，會留下壯麗的光。這就是我在暴風雨后去散步的原因。

在我走到半路的時候，我看到兩個男孩和一個小女孩像兔子一樣蹦蹦跳跳地穿過街道，身后拖著一個袋子。我不知道發生了什么事，也沒有在意。我繼續走著，看著孩子們消失在一條小巷里。

幾分鐘后，我又見到了孩子們。他們正在收集暴風雨中從樹上掉到街上的芒果。我看著孩子們從一棵芒果樹走到另一棵。其中一個孩子很快意識到我在觀察他們。他頓時有點緊張，但后來他決定不理我，繼續撿街上的芒果。我走到他們面前問：“你們在干什么？”

驚愕之余，兩個小男孩什么也沒說，但小女孩興高采烈地說：“我們正在收集芒果。”

我微笑著，而他們繼續收集芒果。

并非所有的芒果都完好無損。

畢竟，它們是從樹上掉到混凝土地面上的。孩子們檢查了他們找到的每一個芒果。如果是還有一點用處的芒果，他們就把它放在袋子里；如果是一點用處也沒有的芒果，他們就把它扔掉。

我也和他們一起走著，不過我保持了舒適的距離。

時間一點點過去。我看了看他們的袋子，發現芒果已經足夠他們吃了，但他們還在尋找更多的芒果。我注意到另一件奇怪的事———他們連袋子里的一個芒果都沒吃。

“你們不覺得芒果已經足夠你們吃了嗎？”我問。

他們看著我，但什么也沒說。過了一會兒，小女孩說：“我們不是為自己收集的。我們打算把它們賣掉。……