Hanyi World Education Classics Series -- The Education of Love

Author: Amichei
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-01-01
Features: Father's words cut into Giulio's heart like a knife. Oh! He didn't care anymore! In the past, his father would worry terribly whenever he heard his son cough, but now he no longer loved him. There was no doubt that his father's heart no longer had a place for him. Giulio felt immense pain in his heart and said to himself, "Oh, no, my father! Everything is over now. I cannot live without your love. I need all of your love. I will tell you everything, no more secrets. No matter what, I must study hard as before, as long as you still love me, my poor father! This time, I am truly determined."
Nevertheless, that night, he still got up as usual. After getting up, in the quiet of the deep night, he looked one last time at the small room where he had once secretly worked with joy and passion and bid it farewell. When he reached the desk, lit the oil lamp, and saw the blank postal stamps, he thought that he would never write those cities and names he had memorized again, and he felt deeply distressed. Unable to resist, he picked up the pen and began to copy as he had always done. Suddenly, as he reached out, he accidentally dropped a book to the ground. His blood ran cold. What if his father woke up? Of course, his father would never notice him doing wrong—he had already decided to reveal the truth. However, the sound of footsteps approaching in the dark, the fear of being discovered in the silence, and the memory of his father's reaction when he found everything—made him almost freeze. He tilted his ear, held his breath, and didn't hear anything. Peeking through the keyhole behind the door, he found it silent; the family was asleep, and his father hadn't noticed. He relaxed and continued copying. The stamps piled up layer by layer. He heard the rhythmic footsteps of a police officer on the empty street outside, then a carriage, and then sudden silence. After a while, another group of carriages rumbled by slowly, followed by deep silence, occasionally broken by distant barking. He kept writing, writing, while his father was already behind him. When he heard the sound of the book falling, his father got up and waited for the right moment before entering. The sound of the carriages masked his footsteps and the soft creak of the door. His white-haired father stood there, bending over Giulio's black hair, watching the pen glide across the stamps. At this moment, he understood everything, remembered everything, and comprehended everything. His heart was filled with infinite regret and tenderness. He stood frozen behind his son, struggling to breathe. Suddenly, Giulio felt trembling arms embrace his head, and he gasped, "Ah!" Recognizing his weeping father, he cried, "Father, father, forgive me! Forgive me!" His father choked up as he kissed his forehead and replied, "Please forgive me, I understand everything, I know everything. It was me, it was me who should apologize to you, my dear child. Come, let's go." With that, he almost carried his son to his already awake mother's bedside and placed him in her arms, saying, "Kiss this angelic child, he hasn't slept properly for three months, working for me, earning money for the family, and I've hurt his heart!" The mother held her son tightly.