TOLERANCE & FAMILY- Turkish Team

Ali lives in a small town with his father , mother , sisters and brothers, and his grandmother too. But his parents have difficulty in looking after his grandmother  because she is too old to take care of herself. Besides , she is tortured by Ali’s parents. Even Ali has heard that his parents said to her  we wish you were dead so we would get away from you. And Ali doesn’t realize the bad behaviours which his parents treat to his grandmother. Because he learns everything ,good or bad,  by watching  his parents. So he models his parents. He also thinks that elder people must die. One day , while he is walking in the village , an old man wants his help. But Ali doesn’t help him because he thinks that old people are useless in life and also they are obstacles to young people ,but he doesn’t know the truth that he will grow older one day.

When Ali walks in the wood one day ,he get lost. He doesn’t know what to do and he continues to walk aimlessly without a direction. It is getting dark and Ali feels desparetly. The moment in which he thinks he is hopeless , he realizes someone coming to him and he will be so happy. But he is surprised after realizing that this is the old man who wanted to help from him, and he pulls himself back. The old man understands that Ali gets  lost he tells the direction to him to go back home. Ali is so surprised because the old man helps him even though he doesn’t help the old man , so he is so embrassed and apologizes for his behaviour and tells to the old man the behaviour that his parent did to his grandmother. The old man begins to tell a story after that.

‘’Once upon a time , there  is a too bad tradition when people are grown older, they are taken to the woods and are left to wild animals. And therefore , young people have rights to get foods which are so scarce. It is forbidden to keep elders at home so no one can hide his old mother or father, they are afraid of being denounced to King. Anyway  someone wants to take his old father to the woods and leave him there. It is the winter time. The man , his old father and his little son go to the woods together. When  leaving  the old father and returning to home , the little son realizes that he has forgatten his sledge with his grandfather. He says to his father to go back and take his sledge back, but his father doesn’t care this. And then the little son says ‘I must take my sledge , otherwise what will pick up you the woods when you get older.’ And he  understands that his father’s fate is going to be his fate , too. So he goes to his father and they all come back home together . They hide his old father in the hayloft.

After a while , there is a contagious disease between animals. Animals are beginning to die day by day. The old man says to his son : ‘ Seperate  the sick animals and pepare medicine from some herbs.’ The son makes what his old father said to him. And the number of death is decreased between his animals. Most of his animals are survived  in the end. When the Festival of Sacrifices comes , villagers start to sacrifice. The old man gives advice to his son : ’The number of animals in the village has been decreased recently and you don’t have so many animals. Do  not sacrifice this year.’ Indeed , there are a few animals to work in a few months , but the man who listens to his old father’s advice has animals.

When spring comes to closer , there is no cereals to make bread. But the real problem is that, there is no cereals to be used for as seeds. Villagers don’t know what to crop to the field or how to prepare the crop of next year. The old man gives advices to his son , too : ‘ My son , the roof of the hayloft is full of straw. Take them out and re-use them. You can make use of them as seeds.’  This family is the one which the old man lives in has seeds. The whole villagers think that this young man is a wizard and they begin to watch out his home and finally they have learned that the old man is alive. Viilagers have complained the young man to the King.

Firstly , the King is too angry because the young man doesn’t obey the rules. However after the King learns what’ s happening , he accepts that a good and vise advice can change everything and makes a difference. So the King make a new law regarding old people. From now on , children have to look after their old mothers and fathers. They have to behave respectfully, because We will learn a lot of things from their valuable experiences.’’

At the end of the story ; the old man gives another advice to Ali:

‘ Being tolerant does not lose anything to people , on the contary ; being tolerant has many advanteges which we can make use of.  If we are tolearnt people , we will get a lot of people to our lives instead of losing them and being alone.  The concept of tolerance has to be learned at an early age.people have to be tolerant and respect each other .’

After this story , Ali gets the message what must be learned and thanks to old man and goes on his way.