One day, my
sister and I were standing by the pier, watching an old sailor mend some old clothes.

He spent a long time
trying to thread the eye of a huge needle but just couldn’t get the thread through.

My sister and I
found it amusing to watch the old sea dog’s clumsy movements.

Finally, my sister couldn’t
take it anymore and said:

– Señor, let me help you. You’re going to prick all your fingers like this.

The sailor smiled sadly
and handed the needle and thread to my sister.

When my sister
threaded the needle and handed it to the sailor, she suddenly noticed that the old sailor’s right eye
barely opened.

– What’s wrong with your eye? – she asked

– It’s a long story, my child, – the sailor replied, – and you probably won’t be interested in
hearing it.

– “No, no, señor!” my sister waved her hands, inviting me to join the conversation with the old sea
wolf, “We’d love to hear your amazing sea stories!”

The sailor set aside the old blanket he’d been
diligently mending and looked out toward the sea.

– I wasn’t always old and helpless like I am now,” he began his story, “once
upon a time I served as a lookout on a combat corvette. And I was the best. We protected merchant
ships from pirate attacks. And they usually attacked at night. Not all of our
men could get used to fighting in the dark right away. But I could, thanks to a little
trick. I always wore a black eye patch over my right eye. When the battle began, I’d
take it off, and my eye, accustomed to the darkness, could see everything right away. But now…

The sailor fell silent and looked at us sadly.

My sister was no longer laughing; instead, she looked at him in awe, her hands pressed to her chest.

The sailor suddenly smiled and said:

– Remember this, young señoritas. Old people see worse than young people, but there are far more of them.