A Good Man from the Badlands Lives His Father’s Final Words

Tseringben had just lost his father. He told me, “【小题1】” His dad’s final words instructed him to do good to others.

Tseringben’s father wasn’t educated but was wise. He didn’t attend school, but taught himself to read Tibetan. His mother is illiterate (文盲的). And neither of his parents learned Chinese.

“ 【小题2】” Tseringben feels greatly proud. “Even when we were very poor, my family would share food and clothes with villagers who had even less.’’ He recalls. “My father always told me: ‘Tseriag, make the most of your chance to become educated. We’ll do whatever it takes to get you through school 【小题3】 But remember! Intelligence and wisdom aren’t necessarily the same. Kindness is the most important thing.’ These words transformed my young mind.”

Tseringben’s respect of education drove him to become a teacher. So he could provide children the same precious opportunity he got. He was teaching a class in Yushu’s remote Yege township when his brother called to tell him their father didn’t have long to live.

The father saw Tseringben enter the room. He tried to smile. He was so pale. He said, “There’s my son!” His weak voice faded away as he presented his final wishes to Tseringben. 【小题4】

Upon graduating from university, Tseringben could have taken many comfortable jobs throughout the region. But remembering his father’s words, he volunteered for placement in the school with the poorest conditions authorities could find. “Even the people who lived in Yege called it no man’s land,” he told me. 【小题5】 But he has taught me many of the most important lessons about life — lessons he learned from his father.

My grandma is the best pie maker in the world. So when she called me to say that one of her pies was missing, I knew that it was serious. I hurried to Grandma's house and suddenly realized that I hadn't visited her in a long time.

“Start from the beginning,” I said. “I cut the pumpkin pie into six pieces,” she began. “A pumpkin pie! My favorite kind! This is even more serious than I thought.”

I took out a small notebook and a pencil. “Now, when did you last see this pie?” “You mean the whole? I baked it this morning,” said Grandma. “Then the doorbell rang. It was the leaf collector.”

“Just as I suspected,” I said, writing down “leaf collector”. “He stole the pie.” “Oh, no,” Grandma said. “He just wanted me to know that he was finished. I gave him a piece for his good job.” I put a line through "leaf collector"."Then what happened?"

“When I went outside with his piece, the mail carrier was there. She told me she could smell that pie all the way. “Aha!” I wrote down “mail carrier”. “She stole the pie.”“No, I gave her a piece myself.” “Go on, please.” I said.

“Then the phone rang, and it was my neighbor, Gloria Ketchum with the cats." I nodded and wrote "G.K.”. “She calls me every day to see if I need anything. So I invited her and her daughter over for some pie.”

“Grandma! No one stole the pie. You gave away all the pieces. One to the leaf collector. Another to the mail carrier. You and Gloria each had one. And her daughter's is five.”

“Altogether six pieces!” Grandma said. “Maybe it was one of Gloria' s cats, or maybe a monster took it.” Grandma hid her face in her handkerchief; I couldn't tell if she was laughing or blowing her nose.

I had to search for more clues.

I opened the door of the refrigerator and asked “What's this?” Grandma looked surprised. “That's it!” She said, “I'll just warm it up. You must be hungry from the work, Jane!”

I did find the pie. And it was delicious, just as I suspected.