The boy was begging for his sick mother. But when they followed him, they learned a terrible secret. Manuel is a very nice boy. He is 8 years old, and although his voice is a little hoarse, he speaks quite clearly. He always behaves well-mannered, and everyone in the village loves him. "what a cute and educated boy. A real treasure" – these phrases sound wherever Manuel appears, begging for alms when he goes home.
The boy first came to this village at the end of February. He began to walk from house to house, asking for help. He said that his mother was very ill and could not work, so he needed money for everything necessary for her. When people heard this sad story from the mouth of an angelic creature, they could not help but feel his story. Everyone began to sympathize and worry about the child, he was welcomed hospitably in all homes.
Some gave him food and water, while others gave him some money. After a couple of houses, the boy could not even finish everything that was put on him and later said that he was already full. This child won the hearts of all the locals, for them, he practically became an adopted child. Now the poor orphan has a huge new family of people who cared and worried about him. As time passed, the boy came to the village every day.
No one knew where the child lived with his mother, but they believed that perhaps they lived in one of the neighboring villages or on the way there. When asked where he was from, the boy only answered "Over there", pointing his finger towards the south, where the dense forest began. When asked about his mother, he also answered the same thing, that she was ill.
All the villagers were satisfied with the answers of the boy, and they were glad that they could help such a cute child, but there was one person who decided to find out the whole truth. A local priest from a 20-meter tower saw the boy coming to the village every morning. From such a height, he could see very far away, and watched as the child walked along the path from the village along the same route into the distance. Sometimes he would go upstairs and watch the boy leave the village on the same path.
The priest began to think: "Where does this child live anyway?". He imagined an old dilapidated house made of wooden slanting boards, a plot without a fence or a small hut that could not protect from the weather. Over time, the man began to think about it more often. He started asking the villagers about the boy, and all they knew about him was that he was very nice and his mother was sick.
