This is one of my favorite stories by Gianni Rodari. I have remembered it in moments when things were difficult, and it has helped me. To me, it is a truly healing tale, which I now share with pleasure.
*”Once upon a time, in a distant city, a transparent child was born. One could see through him as through air or water. He was made of flesh and blood, yet he looked as if he were made of glass; if he fell, he did not break, at most a transparent bump would appear on his forehead. One could see his heart beating; one could see his thoughts darting like colorful fish in their pool. Once, by mistake, the child told a lie, and immediately people saw something like a ball of fire behind his forehead: he told the truth, and the ball of fire melted away. From then on, for the rest of his life, he never told another lie.
Another time, a friend entrusted him with a secret, and immediately everyone saw it as a black ball spinning in his chest, giving him no peace, and the secret ceased to be a secret.
The child grew up, became a youth, then a man, and everyone could read his thoughts and guess his answers when they asked him, even before he had spoken.
His name was Giacomo, but people called him ‘Crystal Giacomo,’ and everyone loved him for his honesty, and everyone around him became better.
Unfortunately, in that country, a cruel dictator rose to power. A period of violence, injustice, and misery for the people began. Whoever dared to be indignant disappeared without a trace. Whoever rebelled was shot. The poor were persecuted, humiliated, and insulted in a hundred ways. The people remained silent and suffered for fear of the consequences.
Но Giacomo did not know how to remain silent. Even if he did not open his mouth, his thoughts spoke for him: he was transparent, and everyone read thoughts of indignation behind his forehead—Giacomo condemned the injustices and violence of the tyrant. Later, in secret, people repeated Giacomo’s thoughts and found hope.
The tyrant had Crystal Giacomo arrested and ordered him to be thrown into the darkest dungeon. But then, something extraordinary happened. The walls of the cell in which Giacomo was locked became transparent; then the walls of the prison; and finally, the outer walls. People passing by the prison saw Giacomo sitting on his stool, as if the prison were made of crystal, and they continued to read his thoughts. At night, the prison radiated a powerful light, and the tyrant in his palace had to draw all the curtains to avoid seeing it, yet he still could not sleep. Crystal Giacomo, though in chains, was stronger than him, because truth is stronger than anything—brighter than the day, more terrible than a hurricane.”*
— Gianni Rodari
There was a period in my life when, in communicating with others, I felt like a bull in a china shop. I felt that whichever way I turned, I would break something, but I didn’t know why it was happening. And when I remembered this story, I felt strangely good.
Later, I realized that my problem was that I hadn’t been sincere; I hadn’t been saying what I was thinking because all my attention was focused on figuring out what was appropriate to say in the given circumstances. As a result, I didn’t understand myself very well either; I felt very confused and neurotic. There was a conflict within me, and I wasn’t even aware of which part of me was fighting which. Only later did I understand that this was the battle for my authentic Self.
This battle is neither easy nor short, though it becomes easier over time. We have to be brutally honest with ourselves again and again and discover what kind of “fish are swimming in the aquarium” of our heads. The good news is that our transparency brings us the long-desired inner harmony and peace. In the end, this radiates to others, bringing out the best in them.
Kameliya Hadzhiyska
