By Manuel Ortiz and Anna Lee Mraz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P]
Once upon a time, between two big mountains, there was a small village called Montañesco. And Montañesco was so small that everyone knew each other. One day some travellers on horses arrived. They were people who went from village to village selling things in order to make a living. A lady, who always dressed in blue, as is proper of course, did not like the arrival of outsiders to her village and began to say that bad things would happen with the arrival of those travellers.
"They're not like us," said the lady, "they dress differently. They wear black: that color shouldn't even be worn for clothing! It's definitely bad news."
Just as the lady said that, things began to mysteriously disappear. The villagers wondered, Who will it be? Here we all know each other. So, the townspeople thought that the ones who were stealing or hiding things were the ones in black.
The lady in blue commented to her neighbor who was also dressed in blue: “I think they are the ones who come to sell things to the town, they don't give me a good feeling, have you seen what color they dress in? From the color I can tell they are the thieves.”
-What color do they wear? - asked the neighbor.
– Imagine, they are dressed in black. They must be.
"Well, well," replied the neighbour, "let's set a trap for them. Let's leave this money in the middle of the square and watch them without them noticing."
The vendors set up their stalls in the mornings, and that morning the whole town sat and watched them all day long. While they were watching, one person shouted:
-AAAHHHHH! Someone stole my plant. It was here a moment ago and it disappeared.
But the travelers had been watched all day, they could not be the ones dressed in black. So a man in grey said:
- You are wrong, ma'am. It couldn't have been the travelers, we were watching them. Those who are stealing are not the black ones. They are the ones from the east side of town who dress in red. They passed by here yesterday.
-But those in red have been in the town for centuries. They arrived long before you.- answered one of the neighbors in blue.
-No, because thieves always wear a black pattern with white stripes- a small child was heard saying in the crowd.
-Well, well -answered a neighbor also dressed in grey- Let's look at those in red. They could be it.
By then, more people from the village had gathered. Some people were looking at the ones in black, others at the ones in red. And while everyone had their eyes fixed on the suspects, someone shouted:
-Ahhhhh! The money disappeared from the center of the square.
-It wasn't the ones in red, I was watching them without blinking- commented a girl in lilac with her mother in purple.
-It wasn't the ones in black either, I didn't take my eyes off them- said a woman in green.
"Thieves always wear a black pattern with white stripes," a little boy in the crowd commented again.
-There goes one in black with stripes! Catch him!
So the whole crowd started running to catch up with the person wearing a black pattern with white stripes. When they caught up with him, they grabbed him and started questioning him.
"It wasn't me, I promise," pleaded the man dressed in black with white stripes. They searched him and, indeed, he didn't have anything.
"Who could it be then?" the lady in purple asked, frightened, while hugging her daughter in lilac.
The carpenter raised his voice: -No, no, no. The problem in the town has always been caused by the yellows. They did come supposedly to work, but they have only caused problems in Montañesco.
-The ones in yellow? - asked the girl in purple.
-That's them! - said the lady in blue. I never liked them.
-Hey! Entire village! - shouted the man in grey. Those in yellow have tricked us! They have been robbing us! They are causing chaos. Let's go after them!
The ones in yellow who were working - they always worked hard making delicious rice balls for the village - were frightened. The whole village had come to watch them, of course, without neglecting the one in black with white stripes, or the ones in red, or the ones in black.
But while everyone was trying to blame the ones in yellow, there was a spectacular robbery. All the money had disappeared from the town bank!
-Help, comrades. All the money from our local bank has disappeared. I checked it this morning and it was intact. And now, minutes ago, it all disappeared.
Who could it be? It wasn't the ones in black, nor the ones in red, it couldn't be the ones in yellow, nor the ones in black with white stripes because they had been under surveillance at the time the robbery occurred.
-Will the thieves be invisible? - asked a little girl.
"Let's have a meeting," said the man in grey. "A meeting of the whole town at the assembly kiosk, bring the most valuable things you possess."
That's how everyone, of all colors, gathered that afternoon to try to find out who was stealing things and money in the town. Everyone placed their valuable belongings in the center of the room. "Let's turn off the light!" was the common agreement.
They turned off the light.
-1, 2, 3.- They counted in unison and when they turned on the light… everything was there, nothing had been lost.
So, what color are thieves? asked a young man.
At that moment there was a knock at the door. Knock, knock, knock.
When they opened the door to the living room they found themselves in front of the village's wise old man whom everyone knew well.
-I've been watching you. And you know what? This town has become a very prejudiced town.
"What's prejudiced?" asked a little boy.
-Prejudice is when a person thinks badly of another person just because of their appearance or how they dress. Prejudice is when you blame someone for something without having proof of what they did, when you judge them by their color, by how they look and not by how they really are. And what do you think? I stole everything from them.
-You? You're so old and you stole everything from us?
-That's right. You'll find everything out here. You can get everything back. I only hid it to teach you a lesson: thieves have no color. Thieves can be white, blue, yellow, green, black. You don't have to judge by color. It never occurred to you to ask questions. You were all so preoccupied with blaming others for their color that you didn't pay attention to me. I would walk past you, even making signs to you, "Heyyyy, I'm going to steal your plant!" But you never turned to look at me. You didn't think that an old white man would steal something from you. Because you were thinking about the other colors. Come out. You'll find all your things outside, you haven't lost anything. I hope you've learned your lesson. It's too late for me and it's cold. My fireplace, my cat and a little chocolate are waiting for me at home. Excuse me and goodbye.
The old man left and the people of the village went out to find all the things that had been lost. No one had stolen them.
That old man had taught them a good lesson: you should not judge anyone by their color. Colorín colorado, that story is over.
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