"This Kingdom"
a series of stories that will touch your heart
An Ugly Man
There once was an old man who lived in South Korea. After the war, times were hard and life wasn't easy. His occupation was that of a metal collector (the lowest job possible at that time). He would search garbage can after garbage can, looking for scraps of metal that he could sell to the government. He earned $10 and spent only $5 to buy food.
He lived in a hut that he built on the mountainside and was a very lonely person. He lived a sad life for his face was severely scarred from a fire that killed his family. No one would look at him because he was so grotesquely scarred and because of this he kept very quiet and avoided people when he could. His main goal in life was to save enough money to fix his face so that he could live a normal life.
Now there was an orphan who lived in the streets every day. His parents left him when he was only nine and because of malnutrition the boy lost his sight. Every day the boy begged for food but the people beat him and he couldn't even run away because he was blind.
The old man saw the broken hearten boy and felt sympathy for him and took him home. There he fed him, clothed him, and treated him like his own beloved son. The boy was joyful and was so grateful to this person who treated him like a loving father.
Years passed and one day he said, "I'm sorry for being so useless. I wish my eyes become better so I could help you work. You must be so beautiful and wonderful because you took care of someone like me. Maybe one day I could see your wonderful face." The old man became silent being too moved to say anything. The next day he went to the hospital with the boy and asked the doctor privately how much it would cost for the surgery to heal his face. The doctor told him around $1,000. He asked again how much it would be to heal the young boy's sight. The doctor said $1,500 will do.
He had saved up for 10 years and had around a little more than $1,500. He went up to the young boy and said, "After you receive your sight I can't be with you, yet I shall always think of you. I want you to be happy and live a good life".
After these words he paid the doctor and the tired man left knowing he could never truly reveal himself to the one he loved so dearly. After the surgery the boy could see again. He was filled with joy and wondered why he couldn't see the one he loved so dearly. He left and started looking for a job and soon found one at a restaurant. He became a waiter there and worked full-time earning a good amount.
The next day the old man came looking for metals to collect. He started searching around the garbage can of the restaurant when the manager came to tell him to leave because he was scaring the customers. The boy soon came to his side threatening the old man to leave also. The metal collector looked at the boy and he smiled a warm smile at the boy and left not wanting the boy to see him cry his happy tears.
Later in the restaurant, the manager said to the boy, "What an ugly man"! The boy's reply was, "I know, I hope I never see him again".
How many of us can actually do the same as what the old man did? .... And how many of us actually did what the boy did?
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