ANECDOTE

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The Boy Who Wants to Count the Stars

A boy is curious how long his life will be. The wise father does not want want him to think of death, told him:

"You have so many lives!" he said.

The boy was happy to know, only, he thought of the cat that was known to be granted with nine lives. So he asked his father:

"Can I count life with my hands?"

The father smiled tenderly and led his little man by the window. The weather was perfect that the bits of stars met their eyes like immaculate hails of dust. The man spoke with his forefinger pointing at the dark sky above:

"...As much as those stars!...As much as you can see those stars..."

The boy's eyes, wandering through the partial black space above as framed by the horizon, turned bright.

"If it is that much, then I could spend a whole great time doing what I want. I could travel.

Then I could reach those stars and be farther than ever!"

"You can conquer each stars..." Replied the father, metaphorically, happy at his son's optimistic enthusiasm.

When the boy had been left staring at the vast sky, he counted as much as he can count.

He is too overwhelmed by the thought of having so many lives. But the highest figure he knew was less than a hundred. This he repeatedly recited with ten fingers unfolded one by one. He scratched his head remembering that he just learned to count few days ago. He went to his mother's room and asked her to teach him count more.

"Mother teach me how to count more. I'd like to count the stars," he said.

"My son," she uttered calmly, "You can never count the stars. They are INFINITE. It will take all your LIVES to count them..."

 -oOo-