The Lost God

(Originally In Au Lac Language)

A businessman had two sons. One was six years old and the other was nine. Since both husband and wife were busy doing business, they did not have time to educate their children; therefore, the two kids became so restless and hyperactive that they got involved in any fight and minor theft. After going to court for their children's wrongdoings, the couple was so depressed that they both agreed to bring the kids to a church in the village and asked the minister to educate them in hopes that they would become better boys. Upon their insistence, the minister finally agreed to spend some of his spare time to educate the youngsters. He told the couple to send the younger one to him first. The couple was elated. They took their younger son to the church the next morning and went home with excitement.

The minister took the boy into his office, thinking that he would teach him a little bit on religion and virtue. Using a gentle voice, he asked the boy: "Do you know where God is?" The boy did not say anything. He was just quiet and looked around the room. He looked at the pictures on the wall, and in the corner of the room, and bent down to look under the table, et cetera. Finally, he looked at the face of the minister without saying one word.
The minister felt uneasy, but he reluctantly asked him one more time. This time, he raised his voice thinking that, perhaps the boy had not heard him clearly before. He repeated: "Do you know where God is?" Hearing his loud voice, the boy's face looked a bit frightened. However, besides looking around the room, he did not say a word, and then again turned his eyes toward the face of the minister.
At this point, the minister could not bear it anymore. He pointed his finger at the boy's face and yelled loudly: "I...I, I'm asking you for the last time. Do you know where God is?"

This time, the boy was truly scared. He hurriedly pushed aside the chair and ran home. As he arrived home, he immediately looked for his brother. Without saying a word, he pulled him to a corner and said with a shaken voice: "This time, the matter is very grave!" Watching his younger brother in such a terrible state, he was also worried. He asked his younger brother again: "What happened? You look so miserable?" The younger brother answered in a broken voice: "God...has been stolen, and they suspect... suspect... that we are the ones who took Hirm!!!"

一位生意人有兩個兒子，分別為六歲和九歲。由于他和太太只顧忙著做生意，根本沒時間管教孩子，因此這兩個小孩變得非常隨便、放縱，到處惹事生非；打架鬧事、偷東西都有他們的份。某次夫婦倆為了孩子的不良行為上法院之后，他們非常沮喪，一致同意把兩個孩子帶到村里的教堂，請牧師幫忙管教，希望他們能變成好孩子。禁不起夫婦兩人一再地請求，牧師終于同意撥一些閑暇時間來教育那兩個小孩。他告訴他們先把小的送到他那兒，這對夫婦非常高興，隔天早上把小兒子帶到教堂后，便興高采烈地回家了。
　牧師把小孩帶到他的辦公室，打算先教小孩一點宗教和道德觀念。他用很溫和的聲音問那小孩：「你知道上帝在哪兒嗎？」那男孩什么也沒說，只是安靜地環顧房間四周，看看墻上的畫、房間角落，并且彎下身看看桌下…等，最后，他看著牧師的臉，什么也沒說。牧師覺得不太自在，但他仍勉強地又問了那男孩一次，他想或許那孩子上次沒聽清楚，所以這次他提高嗓音問說：「你知道上帝在哪兒嗎？」那男孩聽到他的大嗓音，臉色有點害怕，可是除了看看四周之外，他還是什么也沒說，仍然看著牧師的臉。這時，牧師再也無法忍受了，他指著男孩的臉大聲吼著：「我再問你最后一次，你知道上帝在哪兒嗎？」

這次，那男孩真的嚇壞了，趕緊推開椅子跑回家去。
　當他到家后，馬上找他哥哥，一句話也沒說便把哥哥拉到角落，并用顫抖的聲音說：「這次事情可嚴重了！」哥哥看著弟弟這么慌張的神情也跟著擔心起來，他問弟弟說：「發生了什么事情？你怎么看起來那么驚慌？」弟弟結結巴巴地說：「上…上帝被偷了，而且他們懷疑是我們做的。」