Zatopek and water

We were at the stadium for hours. There I usually drink tea and all that. I don't know how, but this time I became a good man and was drinking only water. Perhaps I didn't have the heart to ask the disciples to bring me tea. Three or four times I drank water. I was very thirsty and hot. Zatopek watched me — although at the time I didn't know that he was watching.

Zatopek likes drinking beer. When we went back to his hotel, there was a tiny refrigerator in each room. So he asked his wife to give him a beer. Then he changed his mind and said, "Oh, no, no! I saw Sri Chinmoy drinking water. After seeing him drink water, I can't drink beer." These were his words. So he asked his wife to give him water.

His wife was so happy to give him water, because she had been telling him for years that he should drink less beer. Then, to make her happier, he said, "Now, I am not going to drink beer anymore. Only on very rare occasions will I drink it. Otherwise, I will drink only water. I saw Sri Chinmoy drinking water; I can't drink beer anymore."

That night he didn't take beer and the following day also he didn't drink beer. He was drinking only water. So for two days he didn't drink beer. His wife was happy that he was fulfilling her wish.