This is not a parable, but a real event. It is not known where the mortars were aimed, but the shells hit an orphanage in a small Vietnamese village run by a group of missionaries. All the missionaries and one or two children were killed outright, and several more children were wounded, including one eight-year-old girl. The villagers requested medical assistance from a nearby town that had radio contact with American troops. Finally, a military doctor and a nurse arrived with a set of medical instruments. They found that the girl's situation was the most critical. If immediate action is not taken, she will die of shock or blood loss. For a blood transfusion, they urgently needed a donor with the same group as the girl. After quickly running tests, the doctor discovered that none of the Americans were suitable, but several orphans who were not injured had the necessary blood. The doctor spoke Vietnamese mixed with English, and the nurse studied a little French at the institute. Speaking in this mixture of languages, as well as helping themselves with gestures, they tried to explain to the frightened kids that if they did not compensate the girl for the loss of blood, she would certainly die. Then they asked who wanted to help her and give their blood. In response to this request, the children opened their eyes wide and fell silent. Several agonizing moments passed until, finally, a small trembling hand rose up, quickly dropped and rose again.
“Thank you,” the nurse said in French, “what’s your name?”
“Han,” the boy answered.
Khan was quickly placed on the couch, his arm was lubricated with alcohol, and a needle was inserted into his vein. During this procedure, Han lay motionless and silent. But a second later he let out a strangled sob, quickly covering his face with his free hand.
“Are you hurt, Han?” - asked the doctor.
Han shook his head, but after a few seconds he began to sob again and tried to hold back his crying again. The doctor asked again if he was in pain, but Han shook his head. But soon the rare sobs turned into uniform, quiet crying. The boy closed his eyes tightly and put his fist in his mouth to hold back his sobs. The doctor became worried. Something was wrong. At that moment, a Vietnamese nurse arrived to help. Seeing the boy's suffering, she quickly asked him something in Vietnamese, listened to him and said something back to him in a soothing tone. At that very second the boy stopped crying and looked questioningly at the Vietnamese woman. She nodded at him, and a look of relief appeared on his face. Looking up, the nurse quietly said to the Americans: “He thought he was dying. He didn’t understand you. He thought you were asking him to give all his blood so that the girl could live.”
- But why then did he agree to this? - asked the American nurse.
The Vietnamese woman repeated the question to the boy, and he simply said:
- We are friends...
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru