The Hard Master

Stories for Another Day

Once there was a man who lived in great house with a great many servants, but he was a hard master. He had no patience for servants who were not quick and clever and good at their work. He would beat them, or send them away.

Two of his servants were brothers, Abel and John. Abel was tall and strong. He finished his work quickly and did it well. His master put him in charge of other servants, and gave him new clothes and shoes, and a present of money once a year.

John, however, was slow at everything he did. He often had to think hard before he did anything, and even then he made mistakes, and had to go back and do everything over again.

His master had no patience with him. He shouted at him and threw things at him, and occasionally he beat him. Eventually he said to John, “You are worthless, useless as a servant. You can’t do anything right. Get out of my house and never come back.”

John left very sadly. “What am I to do?” he asked himself. “I am useless as a servant and I have no training for anything else.” He wandered the streets, cold and hungry. With nowhere to live, his clothes soon became ragged and dirty. People looked on him as nothing better than a beggar, and they turned their faces away when they saw him.

John said to himself, “I will soon die of hunger. There is nothing else for me to do, so I will become a highwayman.”

He covered his face with a mask to make people tremble with fear, and he hid among the bushes along a lonely, narrow part of the road. When a horseman or a carriage came past, he would jump out and point his gun at them and yell, “Give me your money, and all you have!” In this way he made enough money to buy food, and to live in a small, dark hut on the edge of the city.

One day he saw a horseman coming, and he leapt into the road, shouting, “Give me your money or it will be the worse for you!”

The man, whose name was Silas, pulled on his reins but the horse bucked into the air, kicking John’s gun. The gun went off and the horse was killed.

Silas was very angry, and very sad that his horse had died. But then he saw that the highwayman was crying too, under his fearsome mask.

“Why are you crying?” he asked the highwayman.

John said, “Because I have never killed a living creature before, and now this beautiful horse is dead!”

Silas’s heart was softened and he said, “Isn’t it the business of a highwayman to rob and to kill?”

John replied, “I only rob to feed myself, so that I don’t die of starvation. Killing I could never do – this gun is only to frighten people into giving me their money.”

Together they buried the horse, and then Silas said to John, “I am in need of a servant. Come and work for me.”

John stammered, “I am a worthless servant. My old master beat me and sent me away because I am slow and clumsy.”

Silas said, “I am an old man and I have trouble walking. A servant who is slow enough to walk with me would suit me very well.”

So John went to work for Silas. He was slow, and he was stupid and clumsy, but his new master was patient and he forgave John’s mistakes because he knew that John was still learning, and that he was trying his best. In time, John became used to the work. He was no longer stupid because he understood what was needed, and he was no longer slow unless Silas needed his help to walk from place to place, and then he was as patient as can be. Silas was very pleased with him, and gave him the best room and put him in charge of the other servants.

One day Silas came upon John beating the other servants and shouting rudely at them. He called out to John to stop at once. “Why are you beating these people?” he said sorrowfully.

“Because they are stupid and useless,” John replied. “Jolisette is slow at sweeping, and Lois takes forever to wash a few clothes, she is so stupid. You should get rid of them, and get better servants.”

Silas said, “But these are the best servants I could ever have! When Jolisette sweeps, she always sings, and she sings so beautifully that I wish she would take all day over her task. Lois washes slowly because she looks for every spot and stain and washes them out carefully. A man never had such clean clothes as I have.”

John took some time to think about this, and he saw that his master was right. He put away his stick and never beat any of the servants again. Instead he thanked them for their good work. When any new servants came, and they made mistakes and did their work badly, John taught them how to do their jobs well, so they could do their best for his master, and know that their work was appreciated.

Many years later, as Silas grew very old and was dying, he gave his house to John, and put all the servants in John’s care. John wept, for he loved his master dearly, but he promised to do as he wished. And after Silas was gone, there was never a better master than John.

Now some time later, John, who was now a wealthy householder with many servants, was walking in the marketplace. He saw a beggar sitting in the burning sun, dressed in dirty rags. He bent to give him some coins, then he recognised the beggar as his brother. “Abel!” he cried. “What are you doing here?”

The beggar looked down, ashamed. “Go!” he said. “I don’t want you to see me like this.”

John took his brother’s arm and helped him into the shade. “What has happened to you?” he asked.

“I fell and hurt my leg,” Abel said. “It never healed properly, so I could not work as quickly as I used to, so my master turned me out. I have spent all I ever earned, and since I can’t work as a servant any more, there is nothing left for me but to beg.”

John said, “You must come home with me, for we are brothers, and all I have is yours to share.”

The two brothers went home together, and lived in great contentment for the rest of their years.