Una tardecita just before el tiempo de Christmas, Canutito estaba sitting at the kitchen table trying to write una composición. Pero he was having trouble porque él no podía visualizar what he needed to say. Pero en ese momento, Grampo Caralampio entró en la cocina y lo vio struggling.

¿Qué estás haciendo, m'hijo?" he asked him.

"¡Ay, grampo!" Canutito answered, "la catechism teacher nos dio un assignment de escribir un papel about qué es la diferencia between heaven and hell y yo no puedo imaginar just how to start writing it."

"Oh, eso no es so difícil as you might think," said Grampo Caralampio, scratching su barba. "No es una matter de 'what' pero de 'how'" he said sitting down en una silleta. "Let me help you un poquito para que you will know cómo es heaven y cómo es hell," he said, leaning down on his chair.

Canutito sat todo still dándole a su grampo his full atención porque he was sure de que he was going to say algo muy interesting.

"Izque once upon a time un hombre died y se fue to heaven," Grampo Caralampio began. "At least él pensó que era heaven porque todos were sitting around una mesa grande que estaba toda high and so they couldn't reach toda la good food que estaba arriba in the plates. Pero before el hombre could figure out if it was really el cielo, another puerta opened and he saw otra mesa alta with food piled high como en el room that he had thought era heaven. Ahora he was todo confused. Aquí there were two cuartos idénticos con lots of good food pero in both cases it was un poco just out of reach. He looked de un cuarto to the other cuarto pero he couldn't decidir cuál era heaven y cual era hell."

"How was el hombre going to decidir cómo he would tell la diferencia, grampo?" the little boy asked.

"Pues, I'll tell you, m'hijo," Grampo Caralampio said, "no era muy difficult. He began to mirar a las personas who were sitting around las dos mesas. He saw que en both sides las personas had three-foot long forks."

"Really, grampo?" Canutito asked. "How can anybody use un fork que está three feet long? You could never really put it in your boca even si tenías long arms."

"Sí, m'hijo," concurred Grampo Caralampio. "It was un problema to be solved. Entonces el hombre que estaba watching noticed que en un side las personas sitting around la high mesa were spearing la food with sus tenedores largos and feeding each other porque no podían feed themselves. There everybody was contento.

En el otro cuarto las personas around la mesa alta were poking each other con los forks porque they couldn't reach into their own bocas and they were todos frustrados." He paused for dramatic effect.

"Ahora you see, m'hijo," Grampo Caralampio said, "que la única diferencia between heaven and hell is como the people allí approach the same banquete. You can either help your neighbor avanzar and both be fed and satisfied, o puedes picarle a tu vecino and both end up peores and hungry para toda la eternidad."

Oh, now I get it!" Canutito exclaimed. "Ahora sí I understand por qué you said que it wasn't una question de 'what' pero de 'how'. What makes something either good or bad es cómo you approach la situación."

Grampo Caralampio beamed porque his grandson pensaba que he was todo esmarte. Pero just then Grama Cuca came into the room con dos dresses and asked grampo which one wouldn't make her look muy fat for Christmas Mass. Grampo Caralampio hesitated. When he noticed que Canutito was watching him to see what he would answer, he looked at him and said, "¡Ay, m'hijo, questions de heaven or hell are pretty easy to figurar, pero cuando tu grama wants to know which túnico won't make her look toda gorda pa' la Misa del Gallo, pues eso, es una imposibilidad! There is just not right answer para eso."...

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