The story takes place in a small country in Africa.
Uncle Dock lived in the country. One day, his son Bud sent a message from the city saying that 20,000 shillings were urgently needed, and he asked him to send someone to send it quickly.
Uncle Doc was worried. He was getting old and had inconvenient legs. Who should send the money? You know, 20,000 shillings is not a small amount, it can be exchanged for 600 sheep or 100 horses.
After thinking about it, Uncle Doc thought of Ali. Ali is a warm-hearted young man. Although his family is poor, he is upright, loyal, and physically strong. If I entrust this matter to him, there will be no problem.
So Uncle Doc invited Ali and tentatively asked him if he would bring some money for him to his son in the city. Ali said nothing and readily agreed.
Uncle Doc hesitated for a while, and decided to tell Ali the amount of the money. If he wasn’t greedy, a gold mountain would not impress him. If he wanted to keep it for himself, he wouldn’t be too small. Uncle Doc said cautiously: “This money is 20,000 shillings, so don’t be careless on the road.”
Hearing that he had so much money, Ali was also taken aback. Seeing Uncle Dok looking at him expectantly, he patted his chest and said, “Uncle, since you can trust me, I will definitely give you a lot of money. It’s in the hands of Brother Bud!”
Early the next morning, Ali took the small package containing money that Uncle Dok gave him, wrapped it tightly around his waist and set off.
To get to the city, you need to climb two mountains. If it goes well, you can start in the morning and arrive at the city before the sun sets in the evening.
Ali walked forward with great strides. As evening approached, he could already see the spires of the tall buildings in the city from a distance. At this moment, the sound of hooves was heard in the distance. After a while, more than a dozen fast horses approached him, and all of them were immediately full. Soldier in blue uniform.
A captain looked at Ali up and down, pointed at him with the whip, and said, “You, now I’m my servant!”
Ali hurriedly said, “I’m sorry, sir, I can’t be your subordinate. I have to rush to the city to complete a very important task.”
The captain laughed and shouted, “Mission? I tell you boy, we have just overthrown the dictatorship of the king, a new nation is about to be born, and your task now is to revolutionize with us! Otherwise, you are an old man. King’s supporter, I’ll shoot you right away!”
Under the persecution of the soldiers, Ali had to join the rebel army. He was so anxious that the things that Uncle Dock entrusted to him had not been accomplished! If he was shot to death, wouldn’t he live up to his expectations? No, you must live, you must find a way to escape!
On this day, the troops came to camp near a virgin forest. At night, Ali sneaked out of the barracks while the guards were unprepared and went straight to the virgin forest. Not long after Ali ran out, gunshots came from behind, apparently being discovered. He plunged headlong into the forest and ran as fast as he could, just to avoid the pursuers. I don’t know how long he ran, and there was no sound behind him. At this time, he felt very tired, so he climbed up to a tall tree, tied the money and body to the trunk with a belt, and then whistled. Take a nap.
When Ali woke up, the forest was still dark, and only a few bits of light leaking through the leaves told him that it was dawn. Ali estimated that the troops had gone far, and decided to walk out of the forest, only then did he realize that he had lost his way.
It is not an easy task to get out of the virgin forest. Ali became a “wild man” in the forest. He ate wild fruits, slept on grass leaves, drilled wood to make fire, sometimes caught one or two small animals to satisfy his hunger, and tried to avoid attacks by wild animals. The clothes on his body were hung in strands. He simply threw them away and surrounded himself with rattan and leaves. Only the small bag containing the money was still well preserved. Ali always thought: “This is too much. Uncle Gram’s 20,000 yuan, I have to give it to Bud in the city, God bless, don’t let me lose it.”
Ali didn’t have a watch, and he didn’t know how many days had passed. He thought that as long as he kept walking straight, he would be able to walk out of the forest one day. So apart from sleeping and eating, he walked in a fixed direction at other times, using a dagger to cut through the thorns blocking the road, and making a mark for every distance he walked. Who knows, after a long journey for several days and nights, he actually saw the mark he made before, that is to say, he was walking in circles in the forest! Ali did not believe in evil, and went forward again, but after a few days, he returned to the same place again.
After repeating this a few times, Ali realized that he was doing useless work. Could it be that he would not be able to get out in his whole life? He lowered his head and cried sadly. While crying, he looked at his feet, looked at him, and suddenly found a problem! He always thought he was walking in a straight line, but his feet did not walk in a straight line. Because of his physique, his right foot was always a little bigger than his left foot. Although the difference was so small that it was almost invisible, these differences Accumulate little by little, it will get bigger and bigger, and the more you go, the more you deviate to the left, and finally you will come back to the starting point in a big circle.
After Ali wanted to understand the reason, he couldn’t help laughing, and the laughter shook the leaves to the ground. He took a careful measurement with a branch, and measured the tiny gap between the steps taken by his right foot and his left foot. He estimated that for every 100 steps he took, he would deviate one step to the left, so he started again, and every 100 steps he took to the left. Take a step across to the right.
With this stupid method, Ali stopped walking in circles in the forest. He found that the trees were getting sparser day by day, and finally one day, he walked out of the virgin forest. What a lot of hard work! At this time, he was wrapped in leaves, and the beard and hair on his face were already joined together. When he walked into a small village, the children ran away in fright, and the adults quickly brought sticks and hoes to prepare for self-defense. He was a real savage. Ali struggled to make people understand what was going on. The villagers told him that two full years had passed since he escaped, that the war had ended a few months ago and the rebels had been defeated. The country has returned to order.
Ali is very happy that there will be no more vicious officers to execute him, he can go to the city freely and give the money to Bud.
He asked about the road, and found that it was not far from the destination, only about 200 kilometers, and he could get there in three or four days. Ali shaved his beard, got his hair cut, put on an old suit given to him by the villagers, brought some dry food, and went straight to the city without a day’s delay.
On the way, Ali ate a few mouthfuls of dry food when he was hungry, begged for a glass of water when he was thirsty, and did not take any transportation because he had no money in his pocket – the 20,000 shillings were given to his son Budd by Uncle Doc , I can’t move a penny myself.
God bless, Bud is still living in the same place. When he heard that Ali came to give him the 20,000 shillings, he was surprised and opened his mouth wide. He even made a bet with his father that Ali must have the money. Run away, and then Uncle Doc had to admit defeat. Unexpectedly, two years later, Ali will send money!
Bud welcomed Ali into the living room, and then listened to him stammeringly recount what had happened in the past two years. He couldn’t help but redden his eyes. He poured Ali a glass of wine, handed it to him, and said emotionally, “Brother. , I really don’t know how to thank you! You may not know how desperately I need this money right now!”
Ali smiled happily, he proudly took the glass, drank it, and said, “That’s good, it didn’t delay your business, since the task has been completed, I have to leave, I haven’t been home for two years. ”
Bud hurriedly said: “Wait! I have to give you something as a reward… Please take my horse away, if you don’t like it, just sell it, I know this reward you pay for it It’s nothing compared to that, but there’s only so much I can do.”
Ali was a little overwhelmed with excitement. He thought Bud would give him a tip at most, but he didn’t expect it to be a horse worth 200 shillings! He exclaimed, “Mr. Budd, this is a good enough reward! I really don’t know how to thank you!”
So Ali took the shiny horse out of Bud’s house. He decided to sell the horse, have a good meal first, and then buy himself new clothes.
Ali took the horse to the market, and a horse dealer took a close look at his horse and asked, “200,000 shillings.”
Ali was taken aback. Is this horse worth 200,000 shillings? God, he gave Budd 20,000 shillings, and he gave himself a good horse worth 200,000 shillings? What horse is worth so much money?
“Sir, can you explain to me,” Ali asked eagerly, “what’s so special about this horse and why it’s worth so much?”
The horse dealer stared at Ali like an alien monster and said, “No, it’s just an ordinary horse, and the price I gave is very reasonable, no more or no less.”
Ali became more and more confused. He asked, “If an ordinary horse is worth 200,000 shillings, what can 20,000 shillings buy?”
The horse dealer cried out in surprise: “Sir, you didn’t just run out of the desert, did you? Since the end of the war, the value of money has depreciated. Now, 20,000 shillings can only buy one hat.”