A farmer paused in his work one day to rest. As he sat on the handle of his plow, he fell a-thinking. The world had not been going well with him of late, and he could not help feeling downhearted. Just then he noticed an old woman peering at him over the nearby hedge.
“Good morning!” she said. “If you are wise, you will take my advice.”
“And just what might that advice be?” he asked.
“Leave your plow and walk straight on for two days. At the end of your journey, you will find yourself in the middle of a thick forest., and in front of you will find a tree towering high above all the others. Cut it down, and your fortune will be made.”
With these words the old woman hobbled down the road, leaving the farmer wondering. After a short time passed, he unharnessed his horses, drove them home, and said good-bye to his wife; then taking his axe, started out.
At the end of two days, he came to the tree and set to work cutting it down. As it crashed to the ground a nest containing two eggs fell from its topmost branches. The shells of the eggs were smashed and out of one came a young eaglet, while from the other rolled a small gold ring.
The eaglet suddenly began to grow larger and larger until it was full size; then, flapping it wings, it flew up.
“I thank you, honest man, for giving me my freedom,” it called out. “As a token of my gratitude, take the ring—it is a wishing ring. If you wish for anything as you turn it round on your finger, your wish will be granted.” But remember this—the ring contains but one wish, so think well before you use it.”
The farmer put the ring on his finger and set off on his homeward journey. Night was coming on when he entered a town. Almost the first person he encountered was the village goldsmith who was standing at the doorway of his shop. The farmer approached him and asked him what the ring was worth.
The goldsmith studied the ring carefully, and then, with a smile, handed it back to the farmer.
“It is of very little value,” he said.
The farmer laughed.
“Ah, Mr. Goldsmith,” he cried, “you made a mistake this time. My ring is worth more than all you have in your shop. It’s a wishing ring and will grant me anything I care to wish for.”
The goldsmith felt annoyed and asked to see it again.
“Well, my good man,” he said, “never mind about the ring. I dare say you are far from home and are in need of some supper and a bed for the night. Come in and spend the night in my house.”
The farmer gladly accepted the offer and was soon sound asleep. In the middle of the night the goldsmith slipped the ring from the farmer’s finger and put another just like it in its place without disturbing the slumbering farmer.
The next morning the farmer went on his way, totally unaware of the trick that had been played on him. When he had gone the goldsmith closed the shutters of his shop and bolted the door. Then, turning the ring on his finger, he said, “I wish for a hundred thousand sovereigns!”
Scarcely had the sound of his voice died away than there fell about him a shower of hard, bright, golden sovereigns. They struck him on the head, on the shoulders, on the hands, They covered the floor. Presently the floor gave way beneath the weight, and the goldsmith and his gold tumbled into the cellar beneath.
The next morning, when the goldsmith did not open the shop as usual, the neighbors forced open the door and found the body of the goldsmith buried under a huge pile of gold coins.
Meanwhile, the farmer returned to his home and told his wife of the wishing ring he had been given.
“Now, my good wife,” said the farmer, “here is the ring; our fortune is made. Of course we must consider the matter well; then when we have made up our minds as to what is best, we can express some very big wish as I turn the ring on my finger.”
“Suppose” replied the wife, “we were to wish for a nice farm. The land we have now is so small as to be almost useless.”
“Yes,” said the farmer, “but, on the other hand, if we work hard and spend little for a year or two, we might be able to buy as much as we want. Then we could get something else with our wishing ring.”
So, it was agreed. For a year the farmer and his wife worked very hard. Harvest came, and the crops were bountiful. At the end of the year they were able to buy a nice farm, and still had some money left over!
“There,” exclaimed the farmer, “we have the land, and we still have our wish.”
“Well,” said the wife, “we could do very well with a horse and a cow.”
“They are not worth wishing for,” said the farmer. We can get them as we got the land.”
So, they went on working steadily and spending wisely for another year. At the end of that time, they bought both a horse and a cow. Both the farmer and his wife were greatly pleased with their good fortune, for both said together, “We have acquired all of the things we wanted, and we still have our wish.”
As time went on everything prospered with the worthy couple. They worked hard and were happy.
“Let us work while we are young,” they told each other. “Life is still before us, and who can say how badly we might need our wishing ring some day?”
So, the years passed away. Every season saw the bounds of the farm increase and the granaries grow fuller. All day long the farmer was about in the fields, while his wife looked after the dairy. Sometimes, as they sat alone in the cool evening breeze, they would remember the unused wishing ring, and would talk of things they would like to have for the house. But they always said that there was still plenty of time for that. And they smiled at each other and were content.
The farmer and his wife grew old and gray. Then came a day when they both died—and the wishing ring had not been used. It was still on the farmers finger, as he had worn it for over forty years. One of his sons was going to take it off, but the oldest said:
“Do not disturb it; there is some secret in connection with it. Perhaps our mother gave it to him, for I have often seen her look longingly at it.”
Thus, the farmer was buried with the ring, which was supposed to be a wishing ring, but which, as we know, was not, though it brought the old couple more good fortune and happiness than all the wishing in the world could ever have given them.
Sometimes things become possible if we want them bad enough. –T. S. Eliot
Have an AWE-full Weekend!
William “Bill” Bacque