A long time ago, a little girl sat on her father’s knee and looked at the shiny new globe he had just given her. The father was explaining how people of different countries speak different languages and are unable to understand each other’s words.

“There was once a Polish man who created a new language”, said the father seriously. “He called it Esperanto, and he wanted the whole world to speak it. Imagine! He wanted us to stop speaking English! Luckily his language soon died. He was an idiot, wasn’t he?”

Without understanding, the child nodded.

***

Ten years passed. The girl grew up and fell in love with a good-looking foreigner. One day they were chatting with one another and he told her about his new hobby.

“I’ve just become an Esperantist”, he said. “Do you know what that means?”

“Esperanto … Esperanto?”

The word floated across the mists of time.

“Esperanto? That’s a language, created by some strange Polish guy who wanted everyone to speak it and forget their native language. He was an idiot, wasn’t he?”

“An idiot?” repeated the young man disappointedly. “You’re the idiot if you really believe that!”

Sufficiently humiliated, the girl went away and secretly researched Esperanto. She found out that it did still exist and was spoken by people in every corner of the world. She decided that she wanted to learn it too, in order to impress her lover. So, she bought a copy of Teach Yourself Esperanto and tried the first few lessons. Being a mathematician, she was instantly charmed by the logical simplicity and beauty of the language.

Her good-looking foreigner was very pleased. He had become a very enthusiastic Esperantist. An evangelist, you could say. When he wasn’t talking in Esperanto, he was talking about Esperanto, and if it was possible to discuss Esperanto in Esperanto, so much the better. When he wasn’t talking to Esperantists, he was searching non-Esperantists so he could explain to them why they should become Esperantists. Sometimes he even spoke to non-Esperantists in Esperanto, to show them “the advantages of the language”, as he liked to say.

Once our girl asked him if he still loved her. The answer was understandably slightly important to her. She asked him in English … but he responded in Esperanto.

“I don’t speak Esperanto very well! I don’t understand you!”, she said to him angrily.

“Then learn Esperanto more diligently so that you do understand!”, he retorted, smiling.

“Would you not love me if I didn’t learn Esperanto?”, she asked, scared of the response.

There was a pause.

“I don’t want a girlfriend who doesn’t speak Esperanto”, he confessed eventually.

The girl instinctively shied away from this sort of fanaticism. She found an English boyfriend and the Esperanto book languished in a dark and dusty drawer.

***

Is that the end of the story? No, not at all! Life is a joker who enjoys playing tricks on us. Five years later, the same girl was walking through a German city when, by coincidence, she met two German Esperantists. It was Europe Day, and they were standing in the main square to promote Esperanto.

“Hello!”, she said timidly in Esperanto, and the Germans responded warmly. The girl was amazed that they were able to understand one another without problems.

Having returned to Britain, she thought about the experience and, on a sudden impulse, joined the JEB forum which existed at that time. She remained very skeptical and had no intention of becoming an Esperantist. In her opinion, all Esperantists were rude obsessives. But she had just lived through a difficult time and was looking for any kind of a distraction. She wasn’t confident of her competence in Esperanto. Luckily, however, the forum contained a Beginners’ Thread where it was permitted and encouraged to speak in English. It was only because of that that she found the courage to write a message.

She wrote a message then, and a certain member of JEB replied to it. She had been reading his words on the Yahoo Diskutlisto for a long time and didn’t think much of him, but he was nevertheless very welcoming and a little conversation ensued. This polite Esperantist soon suggested that she enter some of the other threads too, and reassured her that she wouldn’t offend other members if she didn’t speak Esperanto.

“What did he just say?!”, thought the girl, somewhat shocked. Here are Esperantists who don’t mind if I don’t speak fluent Esperanto! Are there really Esperantists who don’t want to force me to speak their language?! Where are all the crazy fanatics that I expected hiding?!

Time flew – and they didn’t appear. The girl and the Esperantist started to become friends. They discussed a lot of different things, both publicly and privately, and from time to time even in Esperanto! The girl explained her doubts concerning the language and why she was so suspicious about the whole idea. The Esperantist listened and respected her opinions. “I’m not an evangelist”, he said.

This second Esperantist in no way resembles the first one, does he? What do you think? Did he betray his fellow Esperantists because he wasted the opportunity to capture a new member?!

On the contrary, the more they spoke neither in nor about Esperanto, the more the girl become interested in the international language. Why? Because she started to understand that to be an active and respected Esperantist, its not necessary to wear green clothes, kiss a flag or sell your soul to Zamenhof in any other way. And, more importantly, she learned that you can use, love and even promote Esperanto without becoming a fanatic. Through his jokes and nonsense, the second Esperantist showed her that Esperantists can indeed be normal people (well, almost!), and not obsessed monsters to be frightened of. The girl soon became brave enough to talk to other members of JEB too, and she was surprised how polite and friendly everyone was. No one got angry when she spoke in English and it was good that it was so … because one evangelical word would have been enough to make her run away from Esperanto for the rest of her natural life.

***

And has our story finished now? No, it’s actually just begun. You see, I know this girl quite well, and therefore I can tell you that she has just bought a dictionary, finished the third lesson of the free postal course and written her first Esperanto article for our newsletter!

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