As children, my brothers and sisters and I liked to listen to books on record. (for those of you who weren’t born before the sixties, that is what we use to listen to before cassette tapes, which came after 8-tracks but before what we now use CDs, or are those archaic as well? maybe we now use MP3s…anyway beside the point).
One of our favorite books to listen to was “Tikki Tikki Tembo” which was an old Chinese folk tale of the practice of giving first born sons great long names.
To summarize the story there were two brothers, one named Tikki Tikki Tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri bembo, and the other Chang. The boys always played around a deep well and on one occasion Chang fell in. At this, it became necessary to get the old man with the ladder, who climbed step over step, step over step into the well then step over step, step over step out of the well, rescuing the boy.
On a later occasion Tikki Tikki Tembo fell into the well, but when Chang ran to tell his mother he had such difficulty with his brother’s name, being out of breath from the running and frustrated with his mother’s insistence on showing respect for his brother by using his full name, that Tikki Tikki Tembo was in the water for a very long time before the old man with the ladder could go step over step, step over step into the well and step over step, step over step out of the well.
It was many moons before Tikki Tikki Tembo fully recovered but since this time, they no longer give their first born son’s great long names.
The number one lesson I will always remember form this story is the old man with the ladder and his step over step, step over step, to accomplish his mission of saving the children. The lesson is intensified as my own mother often reminds her children at challenging times that we must be like the old man with the ladder, step over step. I can even hear the narrator’s voice in my head whenever it is brought up. It is a valuable lesson we should all keep in mind…one step at a time.
I recently recognized there is another lesson in the story that we must keep in mind. With my calling I have the opportunity to attend many ward and branch conferences and I am continually reminded of our stake’s theme of “Good, Better, Best” taken from Elder Oak’s conference talk. One of the things that has been emphasized as I have read it and heard various lessons on it is the need to simplify. It is part of my goals to sift out the unnecessary and focus efforts on progress and things that aren’t just good, but things that are better and best.
One of our favorite books to listen to was “Tikki Tikki Tembo” which was an old Chinese folk tale of the practice of giving first born sons great long names.
To summarize the story there were two brothers, one named Tikki Tikki Tembo-no sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri bembo, and the other Chang. The boys always played around a deep well and on one occasion Chang fell in. At this, it became necessary to get the old man with the ladder, who climbed step over step, step over step into the well then step over step, step over step out of the well, rescuing the boy.
On a later occasion Tikki Tikki Tembo fell into the well, but when Chang ran to tell his mother he had such difficulty with his brother’s name, being out of breath from the running and frustrated with his mother’s insistence on showing respect for his brother by using his full name, that Tikki Tikki Tembo was in the water for a very long time before the old man with the ladder could go step over step, step over step into the well and step over step, step over step out of the well.
It was many moons before Tikki Tikki Tembo fully recovered but since this time, they no longer give their first born son’s great long names.
The number one lesson I will always remember form this story is the old man with the ladder and his step over step, step over step, to accomplish his mission of saving the children. The lesson is intensified as my own mother often reminds her children at challenging times that we must be like the old man with the ladder, step over step. I can even hear the narrator’s voice in my head whenever it is brought up. It is a valuable lesson we should all keep in mind…one step at a time.
I recently recognized there is another lesson in the story that we must keep in mind. With my calling I have the opportunity to attend many ward and branch conferences and I am continually reminded of our stake’s theme of “Good, Better, Best” taken from Elder Oak’s conference talk. One of the things that has been emphasized as I have read it and heard various lessons on it is the need to simplify. It is part of my goals to sift out the unnecessary and focus efforts on progress and things that aren’t just good, but things that are better and best.
