The Price of a Doll

Francisco and Mariana lived in a coastal town with their parents who were simple fisher folk. 

Francisco liked to collect seashells on the beach on school holidays. Mariana, who was two years older than him at eight, helped him.

Mariana could not hear or speak. She did not go to school and liked to play with her homemade dolls. She showered them, dressed them, and laid them out on display. Sometimes she organised doll weddings and invited all her friends. Francisco made fun of all the fuss she made about her dolls.

One summer, Francisco and Mariana visited the town fair. They saw several stalls selling toys and sweets. At one stall, Mariana couldn’t take her eyes off a Japanese silk doll. She stood rooted to the spot while Francisco wandered to the other stalls. When he realised that Mariana was not with him, he retraced his footsteps and found her eyes glued to the Japanese doll.

“Excuse me,” he asked the elderly stall owner, “How much does that doll cost?”

The stall-owner looked in the direction Francisco pointed and asked, 

“The Japanese silk one?”

Francisco looked at Mariana. She gently nodded.

“Yes, sir!” exclaimed Francisco.

The stall-owner, who had seen hard days in his lifetime, looked at the two children, and kindly asked Francisco,

“How much have you got?”

“Well, let me see…” said Francisco, digging into his pocket.

He fished out ten beautiful seashells and laid them on the counter.

“Will these be enough?” he asked.

The stall-owner carefully counted the seashells. He took five of them and gave the rest back to Francisco who put them back into his pocket.  The stall-owner then instructed his young assistant to give the doll to Francisco.

Francisco proudly presented the Japanese silk doll to Mariana. Her eyes sparkled, she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek, and held the doll against her heart like a precious treasure. 

The stall-owner’s assistant watched the children walk away happily. He turned to the stall-owner and asked, 

“I do not understand it. That was one of the most expensive dolls in our stall. How could you give it away for a few seashells?”

The stall-owner smiled and said,

“Those seashells were very precious to that little boy. Yet, he sacrificed them to buy the doll for his sister. Did you see how happy he made her? When he grows up, he will remember how someone had been kind enough to let him pay for an expensive doll with a few seashells. And he will pass this kindness on.”

(Retold with a twist)