461- The Game of the Indian and the White Man

One day Monica noticed that her two boys had been quarrelling and yelling at each other for quite a long while. This was an unusual thing so she hurried over to them. She could see how angry they were, so she asked, “What happened?”

Michael said, “Ask Mina, for he’s wrong.”

Mina said, “No, It’s Michael who is in the wrong.”

Each one insisted that his brother was the wrongdoer. Therefore Monica said, “I want to know what happened?”

Michael said, “We agreed on playing the game of ‘The Indian and the White Man’. Mina gathered some feathers and made a headdress like that of the Indians. He held a bow and a plastic arrow. As for me, I held a gun. He was to play the role of the Indian who wants to kill the white man. I was to play the role of the white man who wants to kill the Indian man. We were each going around the house looking for each other to do the killing. When we saw one another from a distance, he shot his arrow and I shot a charge from my gun. I threw myself on the floor like one dead.

Mina came up to me and cheerfully said, “I have killed you, you are dead.”

I lifted my head and said, “No, I’m not dead.”

He replied, “Yes, you’re dead.”

The argument became hot as we differed as to whether I was dead or alive. Each one of us insists on his opinion.”

Monica was silent for a moment, then tried to establish peace but failed. She then told Mina somewhat firmly to sit on the chair in the corner of the room and not say a single word. She ordered Michael to sit in a chair in the opposite corner and remain silent.

She left them for ten minutes. They were about to rebel for they were not used to remaining quiet for ten minutes.

Then Monica beckoned them to draw their chairs closer to her. She said she would tell them a short story, “ Do you know why Pennsylvania was called by that name?”

They answered, “No.”

“ Well, it was named after a famous man called William Penn. He was a pious Christian. Every day he would hear stories about how the white men were killing the Indians who were the original natives of America. The Indians had also killed few white men. The Indians saw that America was their country, and they felt entitled to preserve their sovereignty. So they killed the white men in self-defense. In return, many white men treated the Indians violently. This made matters even worse.

Penn held a meeting with a group of friends and said, “We’re wrong because we don’t know how to win the Indians over. We should become their friends.”

Some replied, “You speak from a distance having no experience. The Indians know nothing about coming to terms. All they know is bows and arrows. They hate all that is white.”

Penn said, “I’ll try on my own.”

One of his friends asked, “Will you carry a gun with you?”

Penn answered, “Definitely not.”

Many commented, “You’re unwise, they’ll surely kill you.”

Penn replied, “I’ll win them over with love.”

Penn then went alone towards the region most populated with Indians. When they saw him, they pointed their bows in his direction. However, they noticed that he neither reacted nor got agitated. He wanted to talk with them. So they gathered around him, yet they acted with great caution. They held onto their bows and arrows and watched him carefully. They suspected him of having a cunning plan to get rid of them.

Penn said, “I’ve come to ask you if we could live together in peace. We can be like brothers filled with love towards one another. We could carry love rather than weapons. God has created us to be brothers and sisters. Let’s have an honest intention and goodwill. Let’s open up our hearts to one another, for we’re one body and blood.”

When he had spoken these words, he pulled a paper out of his pocket and read it to them. It asked them to establish a treaty of love and peace. Under that treaty, anyone who attacks his fellow man would be punished, whether Indian or white.

They all agreed to sign the treaty. They began to open up their doors to each other. Some of the white men came and settled peacefully in the region of the Indians. For forty years, no one got killed; while in other countries, many were being killed from both sides.

Now, this region that used to be known as Penn changed to be Pennsylvania.

Michael looked at his mother and said, “Then let me live in peace with that Indian.”

Mina smiled and said, ”I’ll live in peace with that white man.”

The two brothers kissed each other and shook hands. They then went on to play in a spirit of love. They went out into the garden after each had left his weapon in the garage.

→ English translation of the story here at St-Takla.org: لعبة الهندي والرجل الأبيض.

Grant me the weapon of love and not the weapons of this world.

May my heart open up and the doors of heaven open up before me.

May I love even those who oppose me

And yearn that peace may fill each one through You.

May I stretch out my arms to embrace every person with love

May I desire to die in order to give life to my brother.

The Sly Fox and the Ram

Short Stories (Stories for the Youth) Books by Father Tadros Yacoub Malaty

The Narrow Canal