Two men,both seriously ill,
occupiedthe same hospital room.
One manwas allowed to sit up
inhis bed for an hour each afternoon to help
drain thefluid from his lungs.
His bedwas next to the room's only window.
The otherman had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The mentalked for hours on end.
They spokeof their wives and families, their homes, their
jobs,
their involvementin the military service,
where theyhad been on vacation.
And everyafternoon when the man in the bed by the window
could situp,
he wouldpass the time by describing
to his room-mateall the things he could see
outsidethe window.
The man inthe other bed began to live for those
one-hourperiods where his world would be
broadenedand enlivened by all the activity and
color ofthe world outside.
The windowoverlooked a park with a lovely lake.
Ducks andswans played on the water while children sailed
their
model boats.
Young loverswalked arm in arm amidst flowers
of everycolor of the rainbow.
Grand oldtrees graced the landscape,
and a fineview of the city skyline could be seen in the
distance.
As the manby the window described all this in exquisite
detail,
the manon the other side of the room would
close hiseyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warmafternoon the man by the window described a parade
passingby.
Althoughthe other man couldn't hear
the bandhe could see it in his mind's eye as the
gentlemanby the window portrayed it with descriptive words.
Then unexpectedly,a sinister thought entered his mind.
Why shouldthe other man alone experience
all thepleasures of seeing everything while he
himselfnever got to see anything?
It didn'tseem fair.
At firstthought the man felt ashamed.
But as thedays passed and he missed seeing more sights,
his envyeroded into resentment and soon turned him sour.
He beganto brood and he found himself unable to sleep.
He shouldbe by that window
thatthought, and only that thought now controlled his
life.
Late onenight as he lay staring at the ceiling, the
man by thewindow began to cough.
He was chokingon the fluid in his lungs.
Theother man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window
groped forthe button to call for help.
Listeningfrom across the room he never moved, never pushed
his ownbutton which would have brought the nurse running in.
In less thanfive minutes the coughing
and chokingstopped, along with that the sound of breathing.
Now therewas only silence
deathlysilence.
Thefollowing morning the day nurse arrived to bring
water fortheir baths.
When shefound the lifeless body of the man by the window,
she wassaddened and called the hospital attendants to take
it
away.
As soonas it seemed appropriate, the other man asked
if he couldbe moved next to the window.
The nursewas happy to make the switch, and after making sure
he was comfortable,she left him alone.
Slowly,painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to
take hisfirst look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeingit all himself.
He strainedto slowly turn to look out the window beside the
bed.
It faceda blank wall.
Theman asked the nurse what could have compelled
his deceasedroom mate to describe such wonderful
thingsoutside this window.
The nurseresponded that the man was blind and could not even
see the wall.
She said,
"Perhapshe just wanted to encourage you."
Author :unknown
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