The Story of Johnny and Sarita

The following story is copied and paste from a friend-of-mine's blog.

“Johnny Lingo’s the sharpest trader in this part of the Pacific.”

The simple statement made the villagers choke with muffled laughter and almost fall of the veranda steps.

“What goes on?” I demanded. “Everybody tells me to get in touch with Johnny Lingo and then breaks up. Is there no such person or is he the village idiot?”

“Not idiot,” said Shenkin. “Only one thing. Five months ago Johnny came to Kiniwata and found himself a wife. He paid her father eight cows!”

He spoke the last words with great solemnity. Two or three cows would buy a fair-to-middling wife, four or five a highly satisfactory one.

“Eight cows!” I said. “She must have beauty that takes your breath away.”

“That’s why they laugh,” Shenkin said. It would be kindness to call her plain. She was little skinny with no – ah – endowments. She walked with her shoulders hunched and her head ducked, as if she was trying to hide behind herself. She was scared of her own shadow, frightened by her own voice. She was afraid to laugh in public. The cousins urged Sam to ask for three cows and hold out for two until he was sure Johnny’d pay one. But Sam was so afraid that there’d be some slip in this marriage chance for Sarita that he wouldn’t hold out for anything, so the cousins resigned themselves to accepting one cow. Then Johnny came in and said ‘Sam Karo, father of Sarita, I offer eight cows for your daughter,’ and delivered the cows.”

This story interested me, so I decided to investigate. The next day, I reached the island where Johnny lived, went to his home, and was welcomed b him with a grace that made me feel the owner. I told him that his people had told me about him, that they said he was a sharp trader, that the marriage settlement ha had made for his wife was eight cows, and that the local people wonder why he paid so much.

His chest expanded with satisfaction. “When they speak of marriage settlements, it will be remembered that Johnny Lingo paid eight cows for Sarita.”

I was disappointed. I guess he felt he had to make himself famous for his way of buying a wife. I was tempted to deflate him by reporting that in Kiniwata he was laughed at for a fool.

And then I saw her. She was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Not with the common earthbound beauty of the girl who carries fruit. This woman had an ethereal loveliness that was at the same time from the heart of nature. The lift of her shoulders, the sparkle of her eyes spelled a pride to which no one could deny her the right. She moved with a grace that made her look like a queen who might turn into a kitten.

“She – she’s glorious. Who is she?” I asked.

“My wife.”

I stared at him. Do they practice polygamy here? He, for eight cows, bought both Sarita and this other?

“There is only one Sarita,” Johnny said, in reply to my puzzlement. “Perhaps you wish to say she does not look the way they say she looked in Kiniwata,”

“She doesn’t.” The impact of the girl’s appearance made me forget my tact. I heard she was
homely. They all make fun of you because you let yourself be cheated by Sam Karo.

"You think eight cows were too many? Do you think anyone will make fun of us when they see her now? Much has happened to change her, particularly the day she went away.”

“You mean she married you?” “That, yes. But most of all, I mean the arrangement for the marriage. Do you ever think what is the lowest price of which she can be bought? And then later, when the women talk, they boast of what their husbands paid for them. One says four cows, another six. How does the woman feel who was sold for one or two? This could not happen to my Sarita.”

“Then you paid that unprecedented number just to make your wife happy?”

“Happy? Yes, I wanted Sarita to be happy, but I wanted more than that. You say she’s different from the way they remember her at Kiniwata. This is true. Many things can change a woman. Things that happen inside, things that happen outside. But the thing that matters most is what she thinks about herself. In Kiniwata, Sarita believed she was worth nothing. Now she knows she is worth more than any other woman on the islands.”

“Then you wanted…”

“I wanted to marry Sarita. I loved her and no other woman.”

“But –" I was close to understanding.

“But,” he finished softly, “I wanted an eight-cow wife.”

SOURCE: McGerr, Patricia. (1988, February). Johnny Lingo’s Eight-Cow Wife. Reader’s Digest. In Bruce W. Tuckman (1992) Educational Psychology: From Theory to Application. USA, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. (Page 288-289) ISBN: 0-15-520871-3

On its surface, this story tells an undoubtedly sweet love story between two beings: how the two appreciate and love each other's both outside-in and inside-out. It sees how one truly values the other person so highly that no amount of money nor the number of cows can replace the beauty of him/her.

Somehow, the story does make a little distinction between the status of men and women in that society. More often, women are seen as an object for exchange of cows. And the exchange for the number of cows exchanged is dependent on the physical beauty of a woman. For a man to have a beautiful and satisfied wife is to have more cows. Hence, one can say that beauty is measureable, and love is made partly conditional: on its beauty. But that's not fascinates me.

What truly fascinates and strikes me in this story is first, the reactions of the villagers toward the decision made by the man, Johnny, second, the need of self-efficacy for one to truly believe in themselves in doing anything, and lastly, the importance of seeing the inner beauty of oneself.

The reactions of the villagers towards the man's decision

Looking back on the responds given by the villagers on the man's decision of paying eight cows for a shoulder-hunched-and-head-ducked woman, they have not been very positive. Neither have the villagers been supportive of his decision. As one villager in the village, one will surely wonder, is he making the right choice (paying 8 cows for the woman)? why does he have to be so stupid? Does he do to make himself famous?

If i was Johnny, seriously this is not some easy questions to answer. It concerns not only his uncertain future with the woman, but also the reactions and responds from the community which are more likely negative. Yet, this dilemma can be easily resolved by giving in to what others are thinking and saying. But he is not of such. This brings me to one lesson my lecturer Mr.Aslam once taught us, "What do you wanna be? a swallow or an eagle?"

Guess when i come out in the society next time, i will be facing all kinds of people: people who try all ways to drag me down, and people who will support and encourage you to keep climbing. Let's not be too far-sighted. Take an example of me going to school next year or even next week for teaching. I believe no matter how many kind people there are in a small community, there are in fact one or two 'viruses' who try to infect you with all sort of negative mentality. Basically, they just want to see you FALL real badly. It may concern your determination, your effort, your passion, or even your attitudes towards teaching. Comments such as 'tak boleh lar' 'itu tak mungkin jadi punya' 'mana mungkin boleh menang' 'kelas tu dah hopeless' have already been uttered in daily conversation between teachers. Sooner or later, this ini-tak-boleh-itu-tak-boleh attitude slowly reins in our decision making, compelling us to be one like them.

To give in to these negative comments are to be part of them, part of this kind of people. Just as swallows move or migrate in large groups, our lecturer associates this swallow with the group of people in a community who share similar interest, who think the same way and who like to be in their own comfort zone. This may well be referred to the negative-minded teachers, or those who are trying to drag you down. Similarly, in the story above, Johnny will be a swallow if he had given in to what the villagers think of the woman.

To be one who is among the least wanted people in a community is to be an eagle. This is a person who fly up high, who are able to see things in different perspectives, who possess different attitudes and characters to working. Johnny is one example of an eagle. Yet not many people can be eagles, not everyone can fly so high [though "everyone now can fly" (AirAsia)], or even want to fly so high. But if there is, he is not afraid of flying higher and higher, taking up more responsibilities, making new changes and having new 'eyes'.

to be continued...