The Poor Man and the Rich Man
In olden times, when the Lord himself still
used to walk about on this earth amongst men, it once happened that he was tired and
overtaken by the darkness before he could reach an inn. Now there stood on the road before
him two houses facing each other, the one large and beautiful, the other small and poor.
The large one belonged to a rich man, and the small one to a poor man. Then the Lord
thought, I shall be no burden to the rich man. I will stay the night with him. Then the
rich man heard someone knocking at his door, he opened the window and asked the stranger
what he wanted. The Lord answered, I only ask for a night's lodging. Then the rich man
looked at the traveler from head to foot, and as the Lord was wearing common clothes, and
did not look like one who had much money in his pocket, he shook his head, and said, no, I
cannot take you in, my rooms are full of herbs and seeds. And if I were to lodge everyone
who knocked at my door, I might very soon go begging myself. Go somewhere else for a
lodging, and with this he shut down the window and left the Lord standing there. So the
Lord turned his back on the rich man, and went across to the small house and knocked. He
had hardly done so when the poor man opened the little door and bade the traveler come in.
Pass the night with me, it is already dark, said he. You cannot go any further to-night.
This pleased the Lord, and he went in. The poor man's wife shook hands with him, and
welcomed him, and said he was to make himself at home and put up with what they had got.
They had not much to offer him, but what they had they would give him with all their
hearts. Then she put the potatoes on the fire, and while they were boiling, she milked the
goat, that they might have a little milk with them. When the cloth was laid, the Lord sat
down with the man and his wife, and he enjoyed their coarse food, for there were happy
faces at the table. When they had had supper and it was bed-time, the woman called her
husband apart and said, listen, dear husband, let us make up a bed of straw for ourselves
to-night, and then the poor traveler can sleep in our bed and have a good rest, for he has
been walking the whole day through, and that makes one weary. With all my heart, he
answered, I will go and offer it to him. And he went to the stranger and invited him, if
he had no objection, to sleep in their bed and rest his limbs properly. But the Lord was
unwilling to take their bed from the two old folks. However, they would not be satisfied,
until at length he did it and lay down in their bed, while they themselves lay on some
straw on the ground. Next morning they got up before daybreak, and made as good a
breakfast as they could for the guest. When the sun shone in through the little window,
and the Lord had got up, he again ate with them, and then prepared to set out on his
journey. But as he was standing at the door he turned round and said, as you are so kind
and good, you may wish three things for yourselves and I will grant them. Then the man
said, what else should I wish for but eternal happiness, and that we two, as long as we
live, may be healthy and have every day our daily bread. For the third wish, I do not know
what to have. And the Lord said to him, will you wish for a new house instead of this old
one. Oh, yes, said the man. If I can have that, too, I should like it very much. And the
Lord fulfilled his wish, and changed their old house into a new one, again gave them his
blessing, and went on. The sun was high when the rich man got up and leaned out of his
window and saw, on the opposite side of the way, a new clean-looking house with red tiles
and bright windows where the old hut used to be. He was very much astonished, and called
his wife and said to her, tell me, what can have happened. Last night there was a
miserable little hut standing there, and to-day there is a beautiful new house. Run over
and see how that has come to pass. So his wife went and asked the poor man, and he said to
her, yesterday evening a traveler came here and asked for a night's lodging, and this
morning when he took leave of us he granted us three wishes - eternal happiness, health
during this life and our daily bread as well, and besides this, a beautiful new house
instead of our old hut. When the rich man's wife heard this, she ran back in haste and
told her husband how it had happened. The man said, I could tear myself to pieces. If I
had but known that. That traveler came to our house too, and wanted to sleep here, and I
sent him away. Quick, said his wife, get on your horse. You can still catch the man up,
and then you must ask to have three wishes granted to you also. The rich man followed the
good counsel and galloped away on his horse, and soon came up with the Lord. He spoke to
him softly and pleasantly, and begged him not to take it amiss that he had not let him in
directly. He was looking for the front-door key, and in the meantime the stranger had gone
away. If he returned the same way he must come and stay with him. Yes, said the Lord. If I
ever come back again, I will do so. Then the rich man asked if might not wish for three
things too, as his neighbor had done. Yes, said the Lord, he might, but it would not be to
his advantage, and he had better not wish for anything. But the rich man thought that he
could easily ask for something which would add to his happiness, if he only knew that it
would be granted. So the Lord said to him, ride home, then, and three wishes which you
shall make, shall be fulfilled. The rich man had now gained what he wanted, so he rode
home, and began to consider what he should wish for. As he was thus thinking he let the
bridle fall, and the horse began to caper about, so that he was continually disturbed in
his meditations, and could not collect his thoughts at all. He patted its neck, and said,
gently, lisa, but the horse only began new tricks. Then at last he was angry, and cried
quite impatiently, I wish your neck was broken. Directly he had said the words, down the
horse fell on the ground, and there it lay dead and never moved again. And thus was his
first wish fulfilled. As he was miserly by nature, he did not like to leave the harness
lying there. So he cut it off, and put it on his back. And now he had to go on foot. I
have still two wishes left, said he, and comforted himself with that thought. And now as
he was walking slowly through the sand, and the sun was burning hot at noon-day, he grew
quite bad-tempered and angry. The saddle hurt his back, and he had not yet any idea what
to wish for. If I were to wish for all the riches and treasures in the world, said he to
himself, I should still to think of all kinds of other things later on. I know that,
beforehand. But I will manage so that there is nothing at all left me to wish for
afterwards. Then he sighed and said, ah, if I were but that bavarian peasant, who likewise
had three wishes granted to him, and knew quite well what to do, and in the first place
wished for a great deal of beer, and in the second for as much beer as he was able to
drink, and in the third for a barrel of beer into the bargain. Many a time he thought he
had found it, but then it seemed to him to be, after all, too little. Then it came into
his mind, what an easy life his wife had, for she stayed at home in a cool room and
enjoyed herself. This really did vex him, and before he was aware, he said, I just wish
she was sitting there on this saddle, and could not get off it, instead of my having to
drag it along on my back. And as the last word was spoken, the saddle disappeared from his
back, and he saw that his second wish had been fulfilled. Then he really did feel hot. He
began to run and wanted to be quite alone in his own room at home, to think of something
really big for his last wish. But when he arrived there and opened the parlor-door, he saw
his wife sitting in the middle of the room on the saddle, crying and complaining, and
quite unable to get off it. So he said, do bear it, and I will wish for all the riches on
earth for you, only stay where you are. She, however, called him a fool, and said, what
good will all the riches on earth do me, if I am to sit on this saddle. You have wished me
on it, so you must help me off. So whether he would or not, he was forced to let his third
wish be that she should be quit of the saddle, and able to get off it, and immediately the
wish was fulfilled. So he got nothing by it but vexation, trouble, abuse, and the loss of
his horse. But the poor people lived contentedly, quietly, and piously until their happy
death.
--The End-- |
