“Is there something you need?”
The headmaster of the piano school looked down at the pale, frail girl standing at the front desk, her clothes and presence clearly out of place in such a polished environment. Disdain filled his eyes.
“I… I want to learn piano,” the girl whispered.
“No parents with you? You’re here alone?”
“My mom has to work… she couldn’t come…”
“But I have money!” she blurted out, quickly placing something on the counter — an orange plastic piggy bank. A cheap kind sold at the night market with its eyes cartoonishly large and its snout slightly dented.
She had been sewing judo kimonos everyday at home. Each day, her mother would give her 5NT as a “reward.” And every coin, she dropped it into the little piggy bank — It took her nearly a year to fill it.
The headmaster looked at the piggy bank, seeing nothing but 5NT coins, his lips twitched — not with amusement but something close to disgust. This was not leather wallet or fancy coin pouch but a child’s toy. A poor child’s toy!
“Do you have any idea how much a piano lesson cost? It’s four hundred per hour! Whatever you’ve got in there — what… I don’t know… maybe for three? four classes at best. And you think it’s enough to learn piano?!”
“Then please… just let me take three lessons,” the girl said, bowing deeply, a perfect ninety-degree angle.
He scoffed, “You think you’re Mozart or what? What can three hours possibly teach you?”
Just then, Ms. Chen, one of the teachers, happened to walk by and overheard.
She glanced at the girl — barely ten, trembling, but burning with the desire to learn.
Her heart softened. She turned to the headmaster and said: “Director, let me teach her. Isn’t that what we’re here for? If she’s paying, why should we turn her away?”
For the next five years, the girl studied piano under Ms. Chen. The tuition never changed — stayed exactly as it was on day one.
I’ve carried Ms. Chen’s kindness with me ever since.
Starting a dream is never easy. I remember it all. And now, whenever I see someone fighting hard for their dream — no matter how small, how unlikely — even if I can’t help them, I will certainly not the one to crush them.
In life, there are things you must do, and things you must never do — All we can ask is to live with a clear conscience.
「有什麼事嗎？」 鋼琴教室班主任看著眼前一名臉色蒼白又瘦弱小女孩，渾身散發著和鋼琴教室格格不入的寒酸氣，滿眼睥睨地問道。 「我想要學鋼琴」女孩怯怯地說。 「沒有家長帶你來？！只有你自己？」 「我媽媽要上班... 她沒有空...」 「但是我有錢！」說完趕快把她手上的小豬撲滿放上了櫃檯。 女孩在成衣廠做童工，每天可以在媽媽手裡領到五塊錢獎勵，她把銅板一個個都投入小豬撲滿。存了快一年，終於把撲滿裝滿。 班主任看著全是五元的撲滿，滿臉不屑地說： 「小朋友！你知道學鋼琴要多少錢嗎？一小時四百啊！你這個撲滿連四堂課都上不到！？還想學鋼琴！」 「那請讓我學三堂課，拜託！」小女孩把腰彎成了九十度。
「你以為你是莫扎特啊？三小時能學出什麼名堂？」
剛好經過櫃檯的陳老師，聽到了整個對話。看到這個約莫十歲出頭的小女孩，如此渴望學鋼琴，心中一軟便跟班主任說:
「主任，要不讓我教吧。我們開音樂教室不就是要收學生？她會繳學費幹嘛不收她？」
往後的五年，小女孩跟著陳老師學鋼琴，學費一直都是最初的價格，從沒漲過。
陳老師的善意多年來一直種在我心裡。
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一個夢想的起步何等艱辛，我點滴在心。看到為夢想而努力堅持的人，若我不能幫助他，也決不能去踐踏他。
人生，有所為，有所不為 。
一切但求無愧於心。
Ayïma 阿儀瑪 