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Text Analysis |
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The Gift of Understanding
Children¡¯s innocence can easily be destroyed in the adult world of buying and selling. Yet there are adults who take great care to preserve it even if it means losing a little profit. The narrator has a wonderful experience as a child in Mr. Wigden¡¯s candy shop, and, as an adult, passes his gift of understanding to other children. Read on to see how this happens.
1.
I must have been around four years old when I first entered Mr. Wigden¡¯s candy shop, but the smell of that wonderful
world of penny treasures still comes back to me clearly more than a half-century later. Whenever he heard the tiny
tinkle of the bell attached to the front door, Mr. Wigden quietly appeared, to take his stand behind the candy case.
He was very old, and his head was topped with a cloud of fine, snow-white hair.
2.
Never was such an array of delicious temptations spread before a child. It was almost painful to make a choice.
Each kind had first to be savored in the imagination before passing on to the next. There was always a short pang
of regret as the selection was dropped into a little white paper sack. Perhaps another kind would taste better?
Or last longer? Mr. Wigden had a trick of scooping your selection into the sack, then pausing. Not a word was
spoken, but every child understood that Mr. Wigden¡¯s raised eyebrows meant a last-minute opportunity to make
an exchange. Only after payment was laid upon the counter was the sack irrevocably twisted shut and the moment
of indecision ended.
3.
Our house was two streets from the streetcar line, and you had to pass the shop going to and from the cars. Mother had taken me into town on some forgotten errand, and as we walked home from the trolley Mother turned into Mr. Wigden¡¯s.
4.
¡°Let¡¯s see if we can find something good,¡± she said, leading me up to the long glass case as the old man approached from behind a curtain. My mother stood talking with him for a few minutes as I gazed rapturously at the display before my eyes. Finally Mother picked out something for me and paid Mr. Wigden.
5.
Mother went into town once or twice a week, and since in those days baby-sitters were almost unheard-of, I usually accompanied her. It became a regular routine for her to take me into the candy shop for some special treat, and after that first visit I was always allowed to make my own choice.
6.
I knew nothing of money at that time. I would watch my mother hand something to people, who would then hand
her a package or a bag, and slowly the idea of exchange was formed in my mind. Sometime about then I reached
a decision. I would go past the two streets to Mr. Wigden¡¯s all alone. I remember the tinkle of the bell as
I managed, after some effort, to push open the big door. Charmed, I worked my way slowly down the display counter.
7.
Here were gumdrops¡ªthe great big ones, so tender to bite into, all crusty with crystals of sugar. There, enormous jawbreakers which made a satisfying bulge in your cheek. And, of course, there were the hard, shiny, dark-brown-covered peanuts Mr. Wigden dished out with a little wooden scoop¡ªtwo scoops for a cent.
8.
When I had picked out a promising assortment, Mr. Wigden leaned over and asked, ¡°You have the money to pay for all these ?¡±
9.
¡°Oh, yes.¡± I replied, ¡°I have lots of money.¡± I reached out my fist, and into Mr. Wigden¡¯s open hand I dumped a half-dozen cherry seeds carefully wrapped in shiny tinfoil.
10.
Mr. Wigden stood gazing at the palm of his hand; then he looked searchingly at me for a long moment.
11.
¡°Isn¡¯t it enough?¡± I asked him anxiously.
12.
He sighed gently, ¡°I think it is a bit too much,¡± he answered. ¡°You have some change coming.¡± He walked over to his old-fashioned cash register and cranked open the drawer. Returning to the counter, he leaned over and dropped two pennies into my hand.
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