Bookstore Lessons

One day in October, I went into a bookstore to buy some birthday presents for my brother. After going through all the choices, I selected several books: a dictionary, a "Guide to Small Arms" (he loves guns), and "Men's Wardrobe" (I figured that at the age of fifteen he might need to know the secrets of men's' clothing). I gave the books to the cashier to ring them up, and went back to gaze at the classics section.
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed some movement - two small forms scurrying around the children's section, which was located somewhere at knee-level. For some reason I assumed they were beggar children, and momentarily worried that they might be after my wallet.
But when I turned around fully, I realized they were two small school children, dressed in white shirts, grey pants, and school badges. The younger one was examining a "Star Wars" coloring book; the older, owlish in glasses, knelt on the floor and scrabbled through the comics. I smiled at their intensity, but they were too busy to notice me.

I went back to the cashier's desk and paid for my books. Watching the two boys - still fully absorbed in their explorations - I was seized by an impulse to do something for them. I went up to the younger one and said, "Tell me, which book do you like?"

He looked up, startled, then smiled shyly and said, "The Star Wars one is the best."
"And you, which one do you like?" I said to the elder one.

"No - no - I was just looking," he said, also smiling.

I picked up the Star Wars book and took it to the counter. "Please give me this one too," I began to tell the cashier.

Suddenly, a young man in a baseball cap who had been sitting near the desk and watching the boys, started, stood up, and said to me, "Please - please don't pay for that book."
I realized this was the boys' elder brother - he looked too young to be their father. "Please let me - as a kharchi," I said. "It pleases me to see young children interested in books."

"No - please. What you're trying to do is a very nice thing, but please don't do it."
I was perplexed. Had I unwittingly insulted the man and his brothers? "Are you sure?" I felt hesitant, a little nervous now.
"Yes. You see, if you pay for these books now - it will become a problem for them later."
I hesitated, considering. I could feel the eyes of the cashier and his assistant on me. The boys paused in the corner of the bookstore, the elder one blinking behind his glasses, the younger one hopping from one foot to the other. I could insist on buying the boys the books, or I could listen to their brother's request. What was the best thing to do?
After a moment, which seemed like the longest hour, I put the book down on the counter. "Well, all right," I said. I turned and left the shop, embarrassed, heart pounding, hands shaking, wondering whether I had done the right thing.
I felt foolish for the entire evening, but later, on reflection, I realized that the lesson the man had taught his younger brothers that day was far more valuable than the money it would have cost to buy them those books.