The Little Hero

The dismissal bell rang, and the children left school and set off back to their homes. One small boy, about ten years old, was carrying his books and hurrying to reach home before evening. He was from Holland, which is called the Low Country because it stands in constant danger of the sea flooding over it; for this reason the government built the high dikes to keep the waters from causing any ruin. Many a time he had heard his father tell stories of the flood brought on by the breaking of these dikes.

This boy saw drops of water coming out of one of the dikes, and he knew that this might well grow worse later and bring on the flooding of the land and the destruction of the people in his town and the neighboring towns. What was he to do? Could he help, small boy that he was? Or should he let it be and go home to eat a good supper and sleep in a warm bed, lest he be late and his family grow anxious over him?

He began to think over this difficult situation, and at last he said: I must stop the place where the drops come through with my finger, and hold off the danger until someone passes by. More than an hour went by, and the sun set. The hours passed and no one came, and he was alone in the cold, bitter night. The hole grew larger, and his finger was no longer enough, so he put in his whole hand to keep the water from coming through. And he stayed like that, thinking of his family and of their anxiety over him, for they did not know where he was, nor had they heard anything from anyone.

The whole night passed while he sat there. In the morning the people went out to their work as usual and found this boy in that state — hungry, cold, but never once having left his post. They carried him on their shoulders, rejoicing that in their country there was a hero boy such as this. A little later they met his family, who were searching for him and thought the people were carrying him because he was dead. But the people said to them: Set your minds at rest — he is alive, and he has saved the lives of us all. Rejoice with us, for he has been the cause of our joy and has delivered us from the danger.

Souk el-Gharb — Anas Khoury