In 2011, a penguin without plumage or white stripes appeared on the Brazilian beach of Provetá, on Isla Grande, off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. Dyed completely black, exhausted and starving, he had lost his elegance and the will to live.
As good fortune would have it, a retired bricklayer named João Pereira de Souza found the dying animal. Without thinking, João took the bird to his house where he patiently removed the oil that covered its fur, fins, legs, eyes and beak, and fed it for days.
When he had recovered, once again becoming a Magellanic penguin, Pereira returned him to the transparent and slightly choppy waters of the Atlantic so that he could once again find the freedom and much-needed company of other penguins of his species. After all, he was just an old, retired man with a life probably too monotonous and quiet for a seabird.
João said goodbye to DinDim, “little friend” or “little guy” in Portuguese, as he skilfully crossed the ocean, thinking that he would never see him again.
A few months later, the Patagonian penguin landed on the same beach. Amazement and joy took over João. That excellent swimmer and clumsy walker was DinDim. With the same joy as his savior, the penguin pushed himself energetically with his legs and wings to reach the human as soon as possible.
The small animal had traveled some eight thousand kilometers from the Argentine and Chilean coasts of Patagonia to Brazil to reunite with its savior, who decided to generously welcome it into his home. Since then, the penguin repeats this visit every year, revealing his gratitude to Pereira. He arrives at Provetá beach in June, stays at João’s house for eight months and leaves in February to live four months at sea.
This extraordinary story opens the door to a fundamental philosophical concept: gratitude or gratitude, as Cicero expressed it. The most eloquent orator in Rome stated that “gratitude may not be the most important virtue, but it is the mother of all the others.”
According to Cicero, gratitude is not a passing feeling, but an instrument of life that gives meaning to our existence. It is the recognition of the kindness we receive from others, like DinDim towards the man who gave him a second life.
Gratitude teaches us to appreciate the relationships that enrich us and help us grow. The story of DinDim and Pereira shows us that gratitude is an element of change, which fosters a new attitude towards life. It helps us recognize what we have, what we have lived or experienced, instead of thinking about what we lack. Who was going to tell the Magellanic penguin that, despite being a migratory sea bird, it would happily live in the backyard of a human’s house for months? For his part, did João imagine that he would wait so happily for a Patagonian penguin to break the monotony of his daily life and bring him unparalleled temporary happiness? His joy was confirmation of this other sentence from Cicero himself: “Men do not come as close to the gods as when they help save others.”
DinDim and Pereira are an example of reciprocal gratitude that transcends words.
The practice of gratitude as a philosophy of life, as conceived by the wise Cicero, is a powerful force that contributes to change, our inner growth and the root of human or animal relationships, as demonstrated year after year by DinDim and João Pereira de Souza, even though eight thousand kilometers separate them.
