A simple farmer was walking along the road, his trusty donkey trailing behind. As he rounded a sharp bend in the trail a figure leaped out of the bushes behind him, and struck him a mighty blow to the head. When the poor farmer regained consciousness, he discovered his faithful donkey gone. He ran up the road and down the road searching and calling to the beast, but to no avail.
Presently he came to a river, where he saw a man standing on the bank, wringing his hands and sobbing. Although the farmer did not recognize him, the man was the very assailant that had struck him and stolen his donkey. The farmer asked why he was so upset, and the thief replied, "I have dropped my purse, containing five hundred silver coins, into this dangerous stream. If you would jump in and retrieve it for me I will gladly give you half of its contents as your reward."
The farmer thought to himself, "Praise be. When bad luck strikes, good luck must surely be close behind. The silver coins are worth much more than my lost donkey. Justice will prevail on this glorious day."
So, he stripped himself and plunged into the cold waters, and the thief ran off with his clothes.
--"Magnus Machina" by Jan Cox p.124
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment