THE BOY NAMED “ẤM” (*) FROM THE UNEDUCATED VILLAGE
- Nguyen Hoang Duc
- Jul 31
- 7 min read
Posat on 31/07/2025
In the past, the calendar was once calculated according to Einstein’s theory, which means the past, present and future were not in vertical order, but instead were located in spatial order, sometimes the present is only a very thin metaphysical fold from the past. There were two villages next to each other. The Educated village was always worried about literacy. The neighboring village was called Uneducated, who hated learning but instead always begged for money. The Uneducated village really hated the Educated village because of their self-confident way of life.
In the Uneducated village, there was a boy called Am, the son of the village chief. Am was always nicely-dressed but he was still sad.
- Why are you always looking down in the dumps? – Asked his father . - You are always nicely-dressed, don’t you appreciate the efforts from your parents? Cheer up, son!
- Although I’m always nicely-dressed, I still feel inferior to others.
- Stupid! Money, food or clothes is either more or less, expensive or cheap, there is no inferior here!
- You cannot say like that!
Then, Am left his village with a view to learning. When he arrived at the neighboring village – the Educated village, he came across a big poster celebrating their educational congress. Then the speaker said out loud the conditions to attend the congress:
- Today, our village – the Educated village – opened an educational congress, which welcomes everyone. The only pre-condition for attendees to get in is to prove that you’re educated and literate.
Hearing that, Am was really disappointed. He went to the pond and sat on the edge, feeling the urge to commit suicide. Then, a boy of the same age as Am approached him:
- Hey buddy…
Am looked up, very surprised:
- Are you talking to me?
- Of course, who else can I be talking to?
- But you’re calling me “buddy”, aren’t you?
- Sure, it’s not something too important, right?
- I thought the kids in your village are all educated and thus arrogant, not bothering playing with the kids from my village.
- It’s not true! The first lesson learnt in our village is to love others like we love ourselves.
- That’s right! I love it!
- Why are you sitting here? And why do you look so sad?
- I want to attend the educational congress in your village but I have to prove that I am educated by a teacher. But I’m uneducated, how can there be any teacher?
- Don’t worry! Just follow me!
- Is it possible that your Educated village can be that arbitrary?
- No! Our village taught us that “Better learn your friend than your teacher.” So now, I’m gonna teach you in just 5 minutes, you just have to say that I’m your teacher and then you will be admitted into the congress.
- Bravo! Thank you very much! But I’m still very worried.
- Don’t worry! Our very first lesson is to be brave, isn’t it?
- Okay, so teach me now! Is that too difficult?
Am followed his little friend into the square where the congress took place. When he arrived, he was startled by a voice:
- Hey boy, how did you get in here, are you educated? You’re from the Uneducated village, aren’t’ you? – the Head Organizer of the congress shouted.
- Yes, why do you know that I’m from the Uneducated village?
- The uneducated, beggar look has exposed you, it’s nothing strange! Do you know the rules of the congress, there’s no place for the uneducated here!
- Yes, sir, I know that! But I have a proper teacher here!
- Who?
- This little friend of mine!
- Lie!
- No, I’m not lying! Better learn your friend than your teacher!
- Okay, so what have you learnt?
- I have learnt the letters A, B, C and I’ve also learnt that 1 plus 1 equals 2.
- That’s not enough!
- Dear sir, learning requires a teacher whether it is just a word or half a word, teaching half a word makes you a teacher so learning half a word makes you a student, too.
- Sure! Although you’ve just learnt a little, you’ve learnt wholeheartedly. I accept you into the congress.
After the congress, the village opened a course for the kids and Am could also attend that course. The teacher said:
- Students, here are some basic things you should keep in mind:
1. Uneducated people know no reason. This means those who are uneducated will never know the reasoning of things. Similarly, even the educated, if still not see things rationally, are just like the uneducated,
2. People cannot teach things that they do not know! People can give advice on things that they never experience, which means those who are awkward and inarticulate do not know anything! Those who advise people of bad things are just bad people!
3. The physics genius Einstein once said: “We can never change the idiots because there are too many of them.” So the educated like us just have to “learn, learn more, learn forever” because intelligence is the only strength to compete with the crowd of scoundrels.
Since Am left, the village chief was very sad. The subordinates came up with an idea “As the neighboring Educated village opened an educational congress, which only welcomed the educated, our village should also open an uneducated congress, which only welcomes the uneducated, only those who can prove they are never taught can attend. And we have to make our congress very popular so that Am will go back home.” Therefore, the Uneducated village held an uneducated congress, a lot of beggars attended, indulging themselves in food and drink, which attracted a lot more beggars coming. But there was still no sign of Am. The subordinates immediately proposed another idea “We should spread rumor that his mother is seriously ill, Am is a dutiful kid, he will come back home.” This time, Am went back home. His father said:
- Can you see that our uneducated congress offers free food and drink, attendees also don’t have to prove that they are taught, isn’t that happiness? Being educated and literate will never be as happy as being stupid but rich, son! Now just sit down, I’ll set you up with three servings of wine.
- No, dad, I need to learn, I don’t just need to eat. – After saying that, Am once again left his village and went to the Educated village.
Unexpectedly, there was a railway running through the village. The government promised to compensate a lot of money for the Uneducated village on the condition that the land handover contract could only be signed by somebody who was literate. The demand was so difficult that the villagers had to plead with Am to come back home and sign the contract. Am agreed to go home, only on the condition that, if anyone in the village wanted to sell land, he or she must prove that he or she was educated, even if it were just a few words, which means he or she must be taught by a proper teacher. Therefore, in the Uneducated village, there was suddenly a movement towards inviting teachers to learn. And then, Am returned home and signed the contract for the village. Everyone was very thankful to Am but their lazy and uneducated nature still prevailed, they threw away books and pens and went back to the beggar life. They even said “Why do we have to learn and be tidy, the more uneducated and filthy we are, the more money can we beg for.” Too disappointed, Am once again left his village. He studied very intensively, day and night, and then took the college entrance exam. He also went abroad to study. Everyone asked him “Why do you have to study so intensively?”. He answered:
- I have to study on behalf of my whole village, because they will never study and never let others teach them.
And then there was a happy ending, he won a lot of international awards in Mathematics. The King issued an order, there would be a huge procession to welcome Am back to the village on the condition that if the villager who couldn’t prove his qualifications would not be allowed into the procession and instead the villagers from the Educated village would take charge of the procession. Each person who attended the procession would receive an envelope. Whether the envelope was thick or thin depended on the qualifications of that person. Therefore, everyone from the Uneducated village decided to begin learning to earn qualifications. When they went begging and offered money, they all shook their heads. They said: “Just give me some qualifications, especially a master’s degree or a PhD.”
Am returned to his village. A hearty welcome party was held, but neither side was happy. Am wasa disappointed at the fake qualifications of the villagers. And the villagers were all unaware of the importance of the awards won by Am. Am once again left his village.
Before leaving, he stood up and said a few words:
- I would like to borrow some words from the genius Einstein: “We can never change the idiots because there are too many of them.” – Am cried and was really disappointed but the villagers just continued laughing and partying. They were all uneducated beggars, they would never understand what he said.
Am left his village, everywhere he went, he told the story about his village and ended the story with: “I tell this story in the hope that other villages will not make a mistake like my village did. Being uneducated and not accepting anyone as a teacher is the greatest misfortune of humans! Do any of you guys want such a great misfortune? Let’s make it clear: The United Nations has affirmed that the most fundamental right of every person is to be nourished and educated. You should not live recklessly like my villagers. You should also not live by the conservative and negative mindset “Being educated and literate will never be as happy as being stupid but rich.” Why? Because without education and tradition, there will be no Humans!”
Paul Duc 09/05/2011
(*): in Vietnamese society, cậu Ấm is named for the boy(s) from the wealthy families or the governmental officials’ boy(s)
Translated by Dang Linh Chi
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