The Book Was Worth An Egg

 •  2 min. read  •  grade level: 6
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As Chi-Wing, a little Chinese boy, went down the street of the village, he was surprised to see a crowd gathered around a man, the likes of which he had never seen before. The man had white skin on his face. He had always been used to folks whose skin was yellow. In curiosity, Chi-Wing drew as near to the white man as he could. Then he saw that the man was selling books, and as he stood there, he told the people that if they bought one, it would explain to them how to get to heaven, and how to be really happy.
Chi-Wing had an egg with him (for Chinese girls and boys often go shopping with an egg), and he summoned up courage to purchase a book with his egg. How proud he was as he set off for home, for he was sure that father would be pleased with the book.
But he was greatly disappointed. His father was very angry when he heard about it. “A book that only costs an egg cannot be worth much,” he said angrily. Poor Chi-Wing crept into bed that night with a sad heart. However, he soon fell asleep.
In the middle of the night he awoke, as he heard his father and mother talking. His father was sitting at the table, and you can imagine Chi-Wing’s joy as he heard his father saying, “This is a good Book. It tells about One, named Jesus, who loves everyone.”
Some time after this, the white man came to the village again, and from him the boy learned to know and love the story of Jesus. Soon after he took Jesus to be his own personal Saviour.
So, after all, Chi-Wing was right when he said that the Book was well worth an egg, wasn’t he?
ML-10/07/1979