THE OLD MAN, THE YOUNG MAN AND THE FIRE

Today we start the publication of some ancient tales and legends of our respective regions.
The first one tells us about the origin of an old proverb which is very much used in Messina. In our Sicilian dialect it sounds like "u vecchiu/a vecchia avìa cent'anni e ancora avìa 'nsignari" which can translated into English: "the old man/woman was a hundred and still he had to learn"

Here's the story:
 Once upon a long ago they told there was a very old and wise man sitting by the fire. A young man passed and asked him: "Can you give me a little fire to light my fireplace?"
"Eh, my young man" the old man replied "I can give it to you but where can I put it if you haven't taken anything? Don't you know that fire burns?"
"Don't worry about this" the young man replied "give me the fire and I'll provide for the rest."
"Well, here you are" the old man said.
Do you know what the young man did? He filled the palm of his hand with ashes, put the lighted fire on and went away.
"Oh dear!" said the old man beating his forehead "I'm so old and with all my experience and years couldn't even imagine such a solution. It's really true: the more you live, the more you know.
And it was so that these words remained as a motto.


by Federica Barbaro, Irina Battiato, Roberta Di Paola and Francesco Greco (Italy)