Dirty Fingers
by David He
Mr. Brown was
a teacher in a high school in town. Every morning
after breakfast he would walk to work. One
morning, however, he got up late, so he had to
hurry to school without breakfast. On his way, he
bought two Chinese cakes and carried them in a
plastic bag. Half way to school, an old beggar
stopped him. He reached out his hand. Though he
didn’t say a word, Mr. Brown understood him.
Obviously, he was asking for the cakes. Mr. Brown
hesitated for a minute, and then handed them to
him. Gratefully the old beggar nodded his thanks.
Suddenly realizing something, he took out one of
the cakes and handed it to Mr. Brown. Seeing the
dirty, bony fingers, Mr. Brown immediately felt
sick. He rejected it but the old beggar insisted
that Mr. Brown should take it or he wouldn't feel
right. In the end Mr. Brown felt he had to accept
it. A few paces further on, Mr. Brown turned
around and, when he saw that the old beggar was
out of sight, he threw the cake into a nearby
dustbin. Then he headed towards school.
The next
morning, Mr. Brown walked to school as usual. As
he was crossing the road, a motorbike raced by
him. His jacket got caught on the back seat. He
fell down hard on the ground and was knocked out.
The biker escaped, paying him no attention. There
were one or two passers-by, but none stopped to
administer first aid. As he recovered
consciousness he became aware of the old beggar
approaching him. He knelt down to see how Mr.
Brown was. To his surprise he saw that Mr.
Brown’s teeth were clenched and that he was
not breathing. The old beggar had no choice but
to try to pry open his mouth with his fingers.
Then he tried to start him breathing by giving
him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. By and by, Mr.
Brown began to moan. The beggar waited beside him
until his eyes opened. Then he called a taxi and
sent him to hospital.
In the
hospital, the beggar waited while the doctors saw
to Mr. Brown's injuries. Before long Mr. Brown
started to speak. The doctor told him that it was
the old man who had saved his life. Mr. Brown
turned to the old beggar and thanked him. The old
beggar replied calmly, “Please don’t
thank me. Thank my dirty fingers.”
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