Stories for older adults

A selection of stories for adults

 The white butterfly. ...
 The six blind wise men and the elephant. ...
 The hidden deer. ...
 The Helpful Ghost (Daniel Defoe) ...
 The wise man and the scorpion. ...
 The Chinese mirror. ...
 The world (Eduardo Galeano) ...

 A selection of stories for adults

 Those that we will see in the following lines are stories that are
especially understandable and relevant for people in adulthood.
 Obviously any adult could read and extract lessons from many
apparently children's stories, but the ones we have here may require
a greater capacity for reflection than an infant would generally have
(given the nuances that can be extracted from each of them, they can
make them somewhat more difficult for a child to understand).

 Some of them are extracted from popular folklore and tradition of

different cultures (in this case, mostly oriental), while others are
creations of well-known authors.

 1. The white butterfly

 "Once upon a time in Japan there was an old man whose name was
Takahama, and who lived since his youth in a small house that he
himself had built next to a cemetery, on top of a hill . He was a
man loved and respected for his kindness and generosity, but locals
often wondered why he lived alone next to the cemetery and why he
had never married.
 One day the old man became seriously ill, as his death was already
close, and his sister-in-law and nephew came to take care of him in
his last moments and assured him that they would be with him for
 everything he needed. Especially his nephew, who did not leave the
old man alone.
 One day, when the bedroom window was open, a small white
butterfly slipped inside . The young man tried to scare it away
several times, but the butterfly always returned inside, and finally,
tired, he let it flutter next to the old man.
 After a long time, the butterfly left the room and the young man,
curious about its behavior and amazed by its beauty, followed it. The
small being flew to the cemetery that existed next to the house and
went to a grave, around which it would flutter until it disappeared.
Although the tomb was very old, it was clean and well-kept,
surrounded by fresh white flowers. After the butterfly disappeared,
the young nephew returned home with his uncle, to discover that he
had died.
 The young man ran to tell his mother what had happened, including
the butterfly's strange behavior, to which the woman smiled and told
the young man the reason why the elderly Takahana had spent his
life there.
 In his youth, Takahana met and fell in love with a young woman
named Akiko , whom he was going to marry. However, a few days
before the wedding, the young woman died. This plunged Takahama
into sadness, from which he would be able to recover. But
nevertheless he decided that he would never marry, and it was then
that he built the house next to the cemetery in order to be able to
visit and take care of his beloved's grave every day.
 The young man reflected and understood who the butterfly was, and
that now his uncle Takahama had finally been reunited with his
beloved Akiko."
 A beautiful story of Japanese origin that tells us about love ,
specifically a love capable of transcending time and even death. An
eternal love.
  2. The six blind wise men and the elephant
 "On one occasion there were six wise old men who did not enjoy the
gift of sight, being blind and using the sense of touch to experience
and know the different realities, beings and objects of the world.
None of these wise men had ever seen an elephant , and After
learning that their king had one, they humbly asked him to meet him.
The monarch decided to grant their request and took them before
the pachyderm, allowing the elders to approach and touch it.
 The wise men approached the animal and, one by one, touched the
elephant in order to know what this being was like.
 The first one touched one of its tusks, and considered that the
elephant was smooth and sharp like a spear. The second wise man
approached and touched the elephant's tail, answering that it was
actually more like a rope. The third would come into contact with the
trunk, saying that the animal looked more like a snake. The fourth
would indicate that the others must have been mistaken, since after
touching the elephant's knee he concluded that it was something
similar to a tree. The fifth denied it by touching the being's ear,
assessing that it resembled a fan. Finally the sixth sage came to the
conclusion that in reality the elephant was like a strong rough wall,
having touched its back.

After reaching different conclusions, the wise men began to argue about
who possessed the truth . Since everyone defended their positions
vigorously, they resorted to the help of a seventh sage who could see. This
made them see that in reality all of them were partly right, given that they
had been describing a single part of the animal as a whole, and at the same
time that, even without being wrong, none of them had been able to know
it in its entirety."

A classic story from India ; This story tells us about the need to take into
account that our point of view is not the only one that exists on reality: we
must value that the opinions, beliefs or knowledge of other people can be
as valid and true as ours, without need that neither of them are wrong.

 You may be interested: " The 10 most interesting Japanese

legends "

3. The hidden deer

"There was once a woodcutter from Cheng who found a deer in a field,
which he killed and later buried with leaves and branches to prevent others
from discovering the piece. But soon, the woodcutter forgot the place
where he had hidden the animal and came to believe that the whole
thing had actually been a dream .

Shortly after, he began to tell his supposed dream, to which one of those
who heard it reacted by trying to look for the deer. After finding it, he took it
home and told his wife about the situation, who told him that perhaps he
was the one who had dreamed the conversation with the woodcutter, even
though having found the animal the dream would be real. To this, her
husband replied that regardless of whether the dream was his or the
woodcutter's, there was no need to know.

 But that same night the woodcutter who hunted the animal dreamed
(this time for real) about the place where he had hidden the body
and about the person who had found it. In the morning he went to
the house of the discoverer of the animal's body, after which both
men argued over who the piece belonged to . This discussion
would try to be settled with the help of a judge, who replied that on
the one hand the woodcutter had killed a deer in what he believed to
be a dream and later considered that his second dream was true,
while the other found said deer although his wife considered that he
was the one who dreamed of finding it based on the former's story.
 The conclusion was that no one had really killed the animal, and it
was decided that the case be resolved by dividing the animal
between the two men. Later, this story would reach the king of
Cheng, who would end up wondering if it really was not the judge
who had dreamed of having distributed the deer."
 The story of “The Hidden Deer” is a Chinese folk tale that tells us a
story based on the differentiation between dream and reality and
how difficult it can sometimes be to make it happen. It is one of the
short stories for adults that tells us about the possibility that we can
live in various planes of existence.

 4. The profitable ghost (Daniel Defoe)

 "Once upon a time there was a gentleman who owned a very, very
old house, built using the remains of an ancient monastery. The
knight decided that he wanted to demolish it, but nevertheless
considered such a task would involve too much effort and money,
and he began to think of some way to do it without incurring any cost
to him.
 The man then decided to create and start spreading the rumor that
the house was haunted and inhabited by a ghost . He also made a
white suit or costume with sheets, along with an explosive device
that would generate a flame and leave behind the smell of sulfur.
After telling the rumor to several people, including some unbelievers,
he convinced them to come to his house. There he activated the
device, causing the neighbors to become scared and believe that the
rumor was true. Little by little more and more people would see said
spectral entity, and the rumor grew and spread among the locals.
 After that, the knight also spread a rumor that the reason the ghost
was there could be the fact that there was a hidden treasure in the
house, so in a short time he began digging to find it. Although he did
 not do so, the neighbors also began to believe that there could be
some treasure in the place. And one day, some neighbors asked him
if they could help him dig, in exchange for taking the treasure.
 The owner of the house responded that it would not be fair for them
to tear down his house and take the treasure, but magnanimously
offered them that if they would dig and remove the rubble that their
action generated and in the process find the treasure, he would
accept that they take it. half. The neighbors accepted and got to
work .
 Soon the ghost disappeared, but in order to motivate them the
knight placed twenty-seven gold coins in a hole in the chimney that
he later covered up. When the neighbors found it, he offered them to
keep everything as long as they shared the rest they found. This
motivated the neighbors even more, who , hoping to find more, dug
to the foundations . In fact, they did find some valuable objects
from the old monastery, something that spurred them on even more.
In the end, the house was completely demolished and the rubble
removed, the knight fulfilling his wish and using only a little
ingenuity to do so.
 This story was created by the writer of Robinson Crusoe, Daniel
Defoe, and tells us a story in which we can see the value of
intelligence and cunning , as well as the fact that being greedy can
lead us to be manipulated and used without we don't even realize it.

 5. The wise man and the scorpion

 "Once upon a time there was a wise monk who was walking with his
disciple on the banks of a river. During his walk, he saw how a
scorpion had fallen into the water and was drowning , and he
made the decision to save it by removing it from the water. But once
in his hand, the animal stung him.
 The pain caused the monk to let go of the scorpion, which fell back
into the water. The wise man tried to get it out again, but again the
animal stung him, causing him to drop it. This happened a third time.
The monk's disciple, worried, asked him why he continued doing it if
the animal always stung him.
 The monk, smiling, replied that the scorpion's nature is to sting,
while his was none other than to help. Saying this, the monk took a
leaf and, with its help, managed to pull the scorpion out of the water
and save it without suffering its sting."
 Another story from India, this time it explains to us that we should
not fight against our nature no matter how much others harm us. We
must take precautions, but we must not stop being who we are or
act against who we are.

 6. The Chinese mirror

 "Once upon a time there was a Chinese farmer who was going to go
to the city to sell the rice crop that he and his wife had been working
on. His wife asked him to not forget to bring her a comb while taking
advantage of the trip.
 The man arrived in the city and once there sold the harvest. After
doing so, he met and met with several companions and they began
to drink and celebrate what they had achieved. After that, and still a
little disoriented, the farmer remembered that his wife had asked
him to bring her something. However, he didn't remember what, so
he went to a store and bought the product that caught his
attention the most . It was a mirror, with which he returned home.
After giving it to his wife, he went back to work in the field.
 The young wife looked in the mirror, and suddenly began to cry .
Her mother asked her why she had such a reaction, to which her
daughter handed her the mirror and replied that the cause of her
 tears was that her husband had brought with him another woman,
young and beautiful. Her mother also looked at the mirror, and after
doing so she responded to her daughter that she had nothing to
worry about, since she was an old woman.
 To understand the story it is necessary to take into consideration
that none of the characters had ever seen themselves reflected in a
mirror, not knowing what they really see. Thus, the wife is not able to
understand that the beautiful young woman she sees is herself, while
the mother also does not see that the old woman she sees is her. It is
also observed that while the first is concerned about why she
considers what she sees in the reflection to be more beautiful than
herself, the second critically undervalues it , practically mocking
her own image.

 7. The world (Eduardo Galeano)

 "A man from the Neguá town, on the coast of Colombia, was able to
climb to high heaven. On his return, he counted. He said that he had
contemplated human life from above. And he said that we are a sea
of little fires. "That's what the world is," he revealed, "a lot of people,
a sea of little fires." Each person shines with their own light among
all the others .
 There are not two equal fires. There are big fires and small fires and
fires of all colors. There are people of serene fire, who don't even
notice the wind, and people of crazy fire that fill the air with sparks.
Some fires, stupid fires, do not light or burn; But others burn life with
such passion that you cannot look at them without blinking, and
whoever approaches it lights up."
 More than a short story, it is a micro-story created by Eduardo
Galeano (one of the most prominent writers in Uruguay and all of
Latin America) and published in his book “The Book of Hugs.” It
 focuses on the vision of the world as a wonderful place full of people
who are very different from each other, but who are still people. It
also makes us see the relevance of daring to live intensely. He pulled,
sweated, trying to get loose. And despite all his efforts, he could not.

8. The chained elephant (Jorge Bucay)

"When I was a kid I loved circuses, and what I liked most about circuses
were the animals. I also, like others, later I found out, was attracted by the
elephant.

During the performance, the enormous beast displayed its enormous

weight, size and strength... but after its performance and until a while
before returning to the stage, the elephant was held only by a chain that
imprisoned one of its legs to a small stake stuck in the ground. However,
the stake was just a tiny piece of wood just buried a few centimeters
into the ground .

And although the chain was thick and powerful, it seemed obvious to me
that an animal capable of uprooting a tree with its own strength could
easily tear out the stake and flee. The mystery is evident: What keeps it
going then? Why don't you run away?

When I was five or six years old, I still trusted in the wisdom of the greats. I
then asked some teacher, some father or some uncle about the mystery of
the elephant. One of them explained to me that the elephant does not
escape because it was trained. I then asked the obvious question... if he is
trained, why are they chaining him? I don't remember receiving any
coherent response.

Over time I forgot about the mystery of the elephant and the stake... and
only remembered it when I met others who had also asked themselves the
same question. A few years ago I discovered that luckily for me someone
had been wise enough to find the answer: the circus elephant does not
escape because it has been attached to a similar stake since it was very,
very small. I closed my eyes and imagined the little newborn attached to
the stake. I'm sure that at that moment the little elephant pushed, pulled,
sweated, trying to get loose. And despite all his efforts, he could not.

The stake was certainly very strong for him. I would swear that he fell
asleep exhausted, and that the next day he tried again, and also the other
and the one that followed him... Until one day, a terrible day in his history,
the animal accepted his helplessness and resigned himself to his fate .
This enormous and powerful elephant, which we see in the circus, does not
escape because it believes - poor thing - that it cannot. He has a record and
memory of his helplessness, of that helplessness he felt shortly after being
born. And the worst thing is that that record has never been seriously
questioned again. He never…ever…tried to test his strength again…”

One of Jorge Bucay's best-known stories; This narrative tells us how our
memories and previous experiences can give us knowledge, but also
generate stagnations and blockages that impede us and can sabotage us
even when their original cause is no longer present. The narrative pushes
us to continue trying to test ourselves even though what we have
experienced may have made us believe that we cannot do it.