Once upon a time there was a country which was grey and sad, where when it rained allthe people went around the streets with black umbrellas. Just, only black. Everyone had a sad crunched up face… But it couldn’t be otherwise under a black umbrella!
One day when it was raining more heavily than usual, a rather strange man suddenlyappeared braving the flood…under a yellow umbrella. And as if that were not enough, he was smiling. Indeed, smiling! Some of the passers-by looked at him scandalized from under the black umbrellas they carried. And they muttered:
“Look at that, how disgraceful!He’s really ridiculous with that yellow umbrella.Rain is a serious business and an umbrella can only be black!”.
Others were furious and said to one another, enraged: “What on earth has come overhim over there, going out in the rain with a yellow umbrella? Show off!” Others turnedto the authorities:
“He’s certainly someone very full of himself who wants to get noticedat all costs! Does he perhaps think it’s funny?”.
In fact there was nothing funny in that country, where it always rained and theumbrellas were all black. Only Natasha couldn’t really understand the criticism. A thought kept going round in her head:
“When it is raining, an umbrella is an umbrella. Yellow or black, what matters is that it keeps off the rain, over and out!”.
What was more, she noticed that the gentleman seemed to be perfectly at ease and quitehappy under the yellow umbrella. So she had a great desire to know more. One day coming out of school, Natasha realized that she had left her black umbrella at home. She shrugged and began walking with her head uncovered so that the rain soaked her hair. It so happened that just then … Oh! It’s the man with the yellow umbrella!…
“Do you want to shelter?».
Natasha hesitated. If she accepted the people would make fun of her. But then she had anotherthought: “When it’s raining an umbrella is an umbrella. Whether it’s yellow or black what does itmatter? It’s always better to have an umbrella than to get soaking wet in the rain!” She accepted and sheltered under the yellow umbrella beside the kind gentleman. Then she understood why the gentleman was happy: under the yellow umbrella there was no longer any bad weather! There was a big warm sun and a blue sky where the birds were flying about twittering.
Natasha was astonished, and the man burst out laughing: “I know! You’re surprised! Just listen to me and I’ll explain everything. Once upon a time I too was sad in this country where it is always raining. I too had a black umbrella. One day coming out of the office I forgot it and left it in theumbrella stand, But I didn’t go back to get it, I started walking home just as I was. As I went along I met a man who offered to shelter me under his yellow umbrella. I hesitated. Like you! I was afraid to be different, to make myself ridiculous. But then I accepted because I was even more afraid of catching a cold. And I noticed – like you – that under the yellow umbrella the bad weather has disappeared. That man taught me that the people under a black umbrella were sad anddidn’t want to talk. The patter of the rain and the black of the umbrella made them sulky. When suddenly I no longer saw him. I noticed that I was holding his yellow umbrella. Had he forgotten it? I looked around but I couldn’t find him. So I’ve kept it and the good weather has never left me.”
Natasha exclaimed:“What a story! Are you not embarrassed keeping someone else’s umbrella?”“No, because I know very well that this umbrella belongs to everyone. There’s no doubtthat that man too had received it from someone else.”
When they arrived outside Natasha’s house they said goodbye. No sooner had the man disappeared than the girl realized that she was holding the yellow umbrella. But who knows where the man had gone! So Natasha kept the yellow umbrella but she knew that sooner or later, it would have another owner, it would have passed into other hands to bring happiness to other people.
