The Working Boy
By
Zachary
Once upon a time there was a little boy named Chi, who was about 10 years old. Chi was very thoughtful about his work and about the way he treated other people. Chi's job was to cut bamboo into whatever size it needed to be. Chi cut the bamboo after his brother (Wang) picked it. Chi loved to cut the bamboo as much as he liked to join friends for tea. He knew he was behind on cutting bamboo, so he decided that he wouldn't stop to have tea with his friends until the cutting was done. Chi was very tempted to go have tea with his best friend , Lee, when he heard his brother Wang calling to father, "Father, I am going to Lee's hut to have tea". But Chi told himself to stay focused and Chi kept on cutting. Chi knew not to rush because if he had an uneven cut he would have to cut even more bamboo, so Chi kept on cutting until he heard a familiar voice. He stopped and looked over his shoulder. It was Lee. "Hey Lee," Chi said.
"Chi would you and your brother like to have tea with me tomorow?" Lee asked.
"I am terribly sorry, but I am really busy because I have to cut all this bamboo for my father and I am not going to stop to drink tea with any of my friends," replied Chi.
"Oh is Wang allowed to come?" Lee questioned.
Chi answered, "He can if he would like to, but he is also behind. But if he wants to I guess he could. That is my brother's decision."
After a while, Lee went into the hut and greeted their father and asked where Wang was. So he went out back and found Wang planting flowers in the garden.
"Would you like to come to my house tomorow?" Lee asked.
"Wang retorted, "Yes."
" Ok, come to my hut tomorow after you eat dinner ?" Lee said.
"Ok," answered Wang. Then Lee walked all the way across the village through the forest and into the next villege into his hut.
The next day Wang went over and sat and chatted with Lee and his father about what was going on at the house and how Chi and his father were. But then Wang realized that it was pitch black outside, so without saying goodbye or thank you, he flew out the door. He had never been at the village in the dark so he got lost in the forest. While he was in the forest he found a whole field of already picked bamboo and he took all that he needed and then retraced his steps and walked home quietly.
Chi was very disppointed because even though he had all that bamboo he didn't have enough time to have tea and now Lee's father has lost face. So Chi went into the hut and told the father about what had happened.
And he said, "An inch of gold will not buy an inch of time." Chi didn't understand what his father said so he asked what that meant and the father told the son that it meant that alll the money in the world cannot even buy a little inch of time.
The End