（第四届）

How Had a Promise Kept

陈鸿萍 首师大附中 指导老师 柏雪松

     “Play for Brazil”! This is what Palito’s father Petro always said to him. And this also became the inspiration of Palito’s successful football life.
    This story ‘The Promise’ is about how indomitable can a man be for a promise and how hard can it be for a man to keep a promise. And also shows us how will a life change by a promise.
The book attracted me at first only because of it’s pictures. A thin boy playing football with fluttering brown hair and a great strength of will on his young face, behind him, his opponents feel down. It seems that he is the only one on the grass that no one can stop him. But in the end , I couldn’t help my mind going on, even though I had already finished the whole book.
    Football, is one of the oldest and the most popular topics that will never go out of fashion. And the football stars, the blessed ones, are always the heroes in our hearts. They are flashing on the field and using their own passions, beliefs and the unusual promises to express football and lives.
    Palito’s childhood seemed like to be in a big poverty trap. The small hut that he was born in had only one room which is almost empty and was needed to mend. His father, Petro, is one of poor people who had no job and Palito was his first and only child.
Right after Palito’s birth, a old woman who is said to have the sense of prediction came to give a promise.
    ‘Your boy will grow up and become famous’.
    And this was what the whole family always believed and finally kept.
    Palito was growing up. He was thin and his legs were especially thin and twisted. This was the nightmare of his poor childhood. But he fond his best in football. He play everyday after school and became very agile.
    As he grew up, he became a great footballer, and even the twisted tow legs couldn’t stop him.
Palito, used to be a thin, weak and poor boy with a pair of twisted legs. But now became a super footballer, the hero of Brazil. I’m talking about none of the honor of motherland, the greatest friendship he had or the passion of football, but the longest and steadiest premise inside his heart.
    “Your son will come near to death many times, but never lose hope.”
    This is what the old woman of prediction said at the same time of her blessing. And these words also came true.
    When Palito was reaching the top of his football career, his twisted legs had revived, and finally started to get him in trouble from time to time. And after the operation, he couldn’t handle his new legs. This seemed like the worst thing could ever happen to a footballer. This means he may never play football anymore and would have no chance to play for Brazil and as time goes by, no one would remember him, a new star once broke in their sight. But it couldn’t beat Palito, because he was the chosen one, the blessed one. That’s the best part of the whole book to me. When I saw him exercising to recover everyday in the gymnasium, I knew how far could one’s promise carry him. When I saw him watching his friend playing for Brazil, I knew how patient can a man be to wait for the day of the promise. When I hear him cheering for his reborn legs, I knew what is the happiest hour of a man.
    When the old woman came, what she gave was not wealth, not food, but just a promise. A promise maybe never come true. But the promise followed Palito as long as he lived. When he felt hopeless, it inspired him. When he down and out, it helped him stand up. And it proved that a promise could change someone’s life.
    Palito was not only a character, but also in the real life. Everytime Palito reminds me to Garrincha, one of the greatest footballer in the Sixties of Brazil. They were both right wingers. They had the same poor childhood, and the same twisted legs. The most important thing is that they had the same hard way to strive.
    Actually in Brazil, many football stars had the same childhood, the poverty trap. Like Pele, Ronaldo. But poverty could not stop Brazil becoming the absolute kingdom of football. You can see groups of poor kids play football on the street, on the beach, and even in the dirt. Once a poor kid said to Ronaldo that all he wanted to do was just to go to a football field to play the real football. Every child has his own promise like Palito, they are dreaming of someday, they would become another Pele, even they didn’t have a piece of bread.
    For me, this is not just a story, but a inspiration, the power or lesson of my life. It really taught me something, something I lack, and longing for. They taught me that “Never lose hope and never let it go”. These are the keys to success. Once you hold this, than you win. Many people hold this steadily, and the door’s open. But more people make it slip away, so they locked the door themselves. That’s why some of the promises can always keep, but some may never keep.
    So, make your promise keep!