The Power of Compassion
 
In a village in Northern India, poor natural conditions led the villagers to live in poverty. Finding food is a daily struggle. Everyone wants to change the situation but no one knows how.
 
There is a primitive highway not far from the village. Due to the poor road conditions, cars and trucks often break down there. One day a truck loaded with canned food rolled over into a roadside ditch and the cans scattered everywhere. The driver was injured, so he hitchhiked his way to a hospital and left the canned goods strewn all over the ground. When the villagers found the "free" canned food, they took it home. For several days after the accident, every family had canned food on their dinner tables. This "free fortune" inspired the villagers. As an old saying goes: "One survives on what's available nearby; be it a mountain or a lake." Now the villagers thought they could live off the nearby highway. They began to make frequent trips to the highway, hoping to find another broken down truck loaded with food.
 
But accidents did not happen as often as they wished. Watching food trucks coming and going, the disappointed villagers did not get anything. One day, someone came up with a clever idea. They went to the road with shovels and hoes at night and dug many pot holes. Soon, more and more cars and trucks broke down there. Because of the poor road, the trucks drove very slowly to avoid accidents. The villagers could then easily follow the trucks and steal some goods.
 
Gradually, things got worse. In the beginning, they only stole food for their own consumption. Soon they began taking other goods and sold them in the market. Finally, the theft turned into sheer robbery. The road near the village became the most dangerous section of the highway. Every month, the police would receive several reports of robbery. One day, the police arrested two villagers in the act of robbing a truck and sent them to jail.
 
The arrests did not scare off other villagers. They became more crafty in committing these crimes. They organized themselves and assigned people to watch for the police. After the robberies, they would hide the goods or change the packaging so the police could find no evidence. The local government tried many ways to stop this practice. Because the villagers were getting used to this way of life, the robberies showed no signs of stopping.
 
During one winter, due to the reputation of the village, many truck drivers avoided passing the village by choosing a detour. As a result, the villagers could not get anything for several days in a row. One day, a truck loaded with phosphate starch passed by. Phosphate starch is for industrial usage and poisonous. The villagers were mostly uneducated, and to them, starch was food that could be cooked in many ways. So they rushed over and took away more than 20 bags.
 
The young driver stopped the truck and chased after the robbers. The other villagers seized this opportunity and went over to unload all the remaining bags of starch. When the young driver went into the village, he begged the villagers to return the starch. By this time, all the villagers had already hidden the bags and no one admitted to the theft. There was no way the villagers would easily return their loot. The young man's pleas fell on deaf ears. Finally, he told the villagers that the starch was not edible and that it was for industrial usage. People could die if they ate it, so it was useless to the villagers. The driver was telling them the truth, but the villagers did not believe him. After all, the starch looked and felt exactly the same as regular edible starch.
 
The young man became very scared when the villagers refused to believe him. He wanted to report the incident to the police, but he also worried that someone might eat the starch and die. Although he would not be responsible for anyone's death, he did not want anyone to die for such a foolish mistake. He went door to door to tell people the truth, and he even knelt down and said: "I do not care about the starch even if you refuse to give it back, but the worst case scenario is not my own economic loss. I am begging you not to eat it, otherwise you will die."
 
Seeing the young man's insistence, some villagers began to doubt themselves. Someone fed the starch to a chicken and the chicken died in a few minutes. The young man was telling the truth! The villagers were shocked, and their hearts were deeply touched. They had stolen this man's goods. The driver should have hated them. Even if they died from the poisonous starch, they certainly would have deserved that fate. But the young man wanted to save their lives so badly that he even begged them on his knees. This kind of love and compassion, this kind of humility made the villagers feel both ashamed and moved.
 
The villagers "found" the bags of starch and returned them to the truck. From that day on, the people in the village never robbed any more trucks. When someone was tempted, others would say: "Think about the good man. We robbed him, but he saved our lives. Do we still want to do these bad things? Are we really demons?"
 
Now the road near this village is peaceful again. After all the law enforcement and government persuasion efforts failed, a young driver's compassion changed everything.
 
People's habits can be changed if we know how to approach them. Compassion can be awakened in others if it is done correctly. There is a thread of compassion in everyone's heart, but the only way to resonate with that thread is through compassion. If we want others to be kind, we have to show them compassion first. No matter how mean the person is, his compassion can be awakened and he can abandon his evil thoughts. We believe everyone has compassion in his or her heart, and if we all are able to show it to others, the world will become a beautiful place.
 
善良的力量
 
印度北部有个村庄，这里土地贫瘠，人们生活穷困，连填饱肚子都成了问题。村民们也想改变现状，苦于找不到生财之道。
 
离村庄不远有一条公路，属于那种简易公路，路况不算好，经过那里的车辆经常发生事故。有一次，一辆装载着食用罐头的货车在那里翻进了沟里，一车罐头滚落一地。司机受了伤，拦了一辆顺道车去了医院，那些货物无人看管。村民见了，就将那些罐头偷偷地运回家，一连好几天，家家户户都有罐头吃。这件事给了村民以启发，俗话说，靠山吃山，靠水吃水，他们完全可以靠路吃路了。所以，他们经常到那条公路上转悠，希望再有运载食物的车辆在那里出事，他们好乘机有所收获。
 
但车祸毕竟不会经常发生，眼瞧著一些运载食物的车辆来了又去，他们一无所获，这让他们很不甘心。于是，他们想到一个主意，晚上，趁公路上没人的时候，他们就拿上工具，将公路的路面挖得坑坑洼洼。这样一来，车子在那里出事故几率就多起来。即使车子在那里不出事故，但因路况太差，所有车子行进速度都会大大减缓，村民们会跟在车后，趁司机不注意，偷偷地从车斗里拿走一些他们需要的东西。
 
这件事在渐渐演变，起初，他们只是偷拿一些食物，后来，其它货物他们也拿，拿了好送到市场上去卖钱。再发展下去，他们就不是偷偷地拿，而是明目张胆地抢了。一时间，村庄旁边的那条简易公路成了最不安全的路段，警察局每个月都会接到好几起关于车上货物被抢的报案。警局出动警力破案，他们在现场抓住了两个正在抢货的村民，给这两个村民量刑。
 
但这样做并没有威慑住其他村民，反而让村民们学会了作案时更加隐蔽更加机警，他们的作案开始有组织并有序起来，有专人负责望风预警，抢到货物后就拿回家藏起来，或者更换货物的包装，让前来搜查的警察找不到物证。当地政府也想了很多办法，想让村民放弃哄抢货物的不道德和非法行为，引导他们走上正途。无奈，村民已经从哄抢货物中尝到了甜头，他们习惯了这种不劳而获的生活方式。所以哄抢货物的事在村庄附近屡屡发生。
 
那年冬天，因为从那村庄经过经常丢失货物，所以，许多货车司机选择绕道行驶避开村庄路段，这样一来，村民好几天没有收获。这一天，终于有一辆货车从那里经过，车上装的是一袋袋磷酸酯淀粉，是一种工业用淀粉。村人都没有甚么文化，在他们看来，淀粉就是粮食，可以制作成各种各样好吃的食物。当下，大家就一拥而上，抢走了二十多袋磷酸酯淀粉。
 
司机是个小伙子，见有人抢了他的货，便停下车，跟在抢货人的身后往村庄村追。这样一来，反而给了其他格村人机会，他们不慌不忙地将无人看管的车上所有淀粉搬了个空。小伙子追进村子，就请求村民将他的货还给他，村人哪会将到手的粮食轻易地交出来，他们都不承认拿了他的东西，并采取了应对措施。小伙子百般恳求都没有用，他只得告诉村民们，那些磷酸酯淀粉不是普通的食用淀粉，而是工业淀粉，有毒。吃了会死人，他们拿去了也没有用。小伙子说的是实话。但村人都不相信，因为这种磷酸酯淀粉无论是从色泽还是手感上，都与他们平时吃的食用淀粉毫无区别。
 
小伙子见村民们不信，吓得不知所措。他本来想去警局报案，但是，他又担心，他一离开，真有人将那些淀粉做成食品吃了，那时候会闹出人命。虽说闹出人命他也没有责任，但他不能眼睁睁地看着这些人去送死呀！他只得一家家地登门去说明情况，甚至向村民们下跪，请求他们：「那些淀粉你们不交给我都无所谓，大不了我受一点损失，但我求求你们，千万别吃那些淀粉，那样是会死人的。」
 
小伙子的执著，让村民们对他的话由不相信到将信将疑，有人就将那种淀粉拿来喂鸡，以检验小伙子所说的话是真是假，结果，吃了这种淀粉的鸡不一会儿就死掉了。这一下，村民们惊骇了，继而是深深的感动。他们抢了小伙子的货，小伙子理应怨恨他们，即使他们吃了那种淀粉被毒死，也是罪有应得。可小伙子为拯救他们的生命不惜给他们下跪来请求他们别吃这些淀粉。这样的爱心，这样的善良，这样的胸襟，让他们羞愧难当，感动不已。
 
村民们自发地将那些工业淀粉都交了出来，重新送到了小伙子的车上。自此之后，村人再没有哄抢过货物，即使有人想打过往车辆的主意，立即就有人站出来说话了：「想想那个好心人吧，我们伤害了他，他却救了我们全村人的命。想想他，我们还有脸继续干这种伤害别人的勾当吗？难道我们真的是魔鬼？」
 
村庄附近的公路太平了。在警察的治理、政府的引导都未曾产生效果之后，一个年轻司机的善良却改变了一切。人的习惯是可以改变的，就看你怎么去改变；人的善念是可以唤醒的，就看你怎么去唤醒。任何人心里，其实都有一根善良的弦，这根弦，只有爱心才能拨得动它。想要人善良，首先付出你的爱，再恶的人，你用你的爱，都能唤醒他的善良，让他摒除恶念。──我们相信，只要大家有一颗善良的心，都付出一点爱，社会会变得美好起来！