Inhalt

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Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Ferryman and The Mermaids and The Magic Guitar
3. Afterward

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Once upon a time in Poland, there lived an old man and his three sons. The family earned a living by ferrying people over a nearby river, but their boat was old, and passengers were scarce, and they were always poor. All his life the old man had had bad luck; then even on the day that he died, there was a terrible storm, and the old ferry boat, that they had depended on for their livelihood, was sunk.

The three boys were devastated, they had no money for a new boat, and no idea what to do. They were outside, lamenting both the death of their father and their situation, when an old man with a long, white beard walked by, and asked them what was wrong.

When they told him, the old man shook his head sadly and said, "Never mind boys; everything will all come right again in good time," Then he pointed to the shore, "Look! See! There is your old boat now, just as good as new!" And when they turned to look, there was a brand new, brightly painted ferry boat, sitting on the water, exactly where their old one had been, and next to it was a group of people waiting to be ferried across.

The brothers were amazed, but the old man smiled at them wisely, with a glint in his eye, and the boys realized that he must be a kind old magician. They were overjoyed and thanked him profusely.

The next day, with their livelihood and faith restored, the three young men resolved to make the most of their luck and their new boat. As before, the three of them took turns working as the ferryman, and divided the takings between them, but the two older brothers had very different characters to the youngest.

Whereas the older boys charged a high price, and would not accept passengers who could not pay, the youngest was always very kind, and would often take people over the river, who had no money. He would listen to their troubles and talk to them kindly, even giving to them from his own pocket, though he was quite poor himself.

Then one day, at sunset, the eldest boy was in charge of the ferryboat, when the same strange old man, who had helped them when their father died, came up to him, in disguise, and asked for passage. "But I have nothing at all to pay you with," the old man said, "all I can give you is my empty purse."

The eldest brother did not recognize him. "No, go away," he said, "Come back when it has some money in it!" and the old man walked away sadly.

The next day, the middle brother was working as the ferryman, and the old man came to him too, in disguise. He offered him his empty purse, as before, saying that it was all he had to give and asked if the ferryman would take it as payment for his fare.

The middle brother also did not notice that it was the kind the magician, "No, be off with you," he said, "It is not my fault or my concern, that you have no money, and I have to earn a living myself." Even as he said it, the boy felt sorry for the old man, but he

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 23.07.2023
ISBN: 978-3-7554-4748-1

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