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  • Oh! Good day to you! Have  you come for another story?  

  • Well, you're in luck. I heard one just this morning  from my sister... I hope I can remember it...

  • [Music]

  • There was a rich man who had made his fortune in  trade. He was a careful and cautious man who had  

  • worked his way steadily to great wealth. He  did not risk his gold in dangerous ventures,  

  • he was not fooled into schemes to get  rich quick. He had scrimped and saved,  

  • denied himself luxury, had gone without finery and  he had concentrated on building a fine business

  • Now his wife had been his loyal and faithful  helper through all of his endeavours and had  

  • stuck by him in the hard times. But now that his  business would allow them to live more comfortably  

  • for the rest of their lives she had hoped that her  husband would relax their strict regime of saving.  

  • But you see... her husband had fallen into  that old trap of making necessity a habit.  

  • He was proud of his savings even though now  he could reward himself with a few of life's luxuries.

  • His wife was frustrated that she  still chopped the kindling, that their house  

  • was devoid of decoration, but worst of all that  they went out in the same clothes they had worn for years.

  • Whilst other wealthy men's wives were  dressed in their finery, the rich man's wife  

  • had to darn, stitch and mend her clothes because  her husband wouldn't allow her any new ones.

  • One day, the rich man and his wife  were preparing to go to the market.  

  • Once again she pulled on the same old dress  she always wore, and once again she prepared  

  • herself to be mocked for being old-fashionedplain and behind the times. She prayed to Saint  

  • Rita that something would be done to change her  situation and that she would get a new dress.

  • The couple had barely gone  two steps from the house  

  • when the man cried out in pain.

  • 'Oh my foot!'  he cried, 'the pain... what can it be?'

  • Now, as it happened, there was a wise woman sat  on the side of the road with a basket of herbs.  

  • 'Let us go and see the wise woman' said his wife.

  • 'A wise woman? A wise woman?!' replied the man.

  • 'Can't you see the pain is more serious than that! I want to go and see the apothecary'.

  • And so he hobbled on leaning on his wife's  shoulder into the market. As they approached  

  • the store, the apothecary noticed them and came  out from behind his potions and ointments. He  

  • was a snivelling little fellow with hunger in his  eyes and he bade the man sat down. He listened to  

  • the details of his injuries andafter a moment  or two with much inspecting of the man's foothe  

  • said, 'hmm... I can see what your problem is. What  you need is a poultice of goose, fat pepper and  

  • cinnamon. It'll be really very hot and will draw  out the thing that is causing you your problem'.  

  • 'Will it hurt?' asked the man.

  • 'If it doesn't then it isn't working' replied the apothecary.

  • 'How much?' – 'A pound' he said.

  • 'A pound?!' said the wife, 'that will buy me three dresses... we're not paying that much! Come on.'

  • And with that the rich man was whisked off his stool and taken in the direction of the wise woman.

  • 'Nono... to the barber surgeon! He'll know what to do!' spluttered the rich man.

  • And so further along the road they found the barber surgeon shop and entered.

  • The barber surgeon leapt upsome might say a little over enthusiasticallyand encouraged the man to sit in a chair and began to inspect his foot.

  • After a moment or two he said, 'hmm... I can see what your problem is. I will need to takeknife and cut through your flesh and bone, and  

  • then with a saw remove your foot, and then with  a searing iron seal the vein and wrap the stump.'  

  • 'Will it hurt?' asked the rich man. – 'Hmm... if it doesn't, it isn't working,' replied the barber surgeon.

  • 'How much?' asked the rich man.  – 'Two pounds.'

  • 'Two pounds?!' exclaimed the wife, 'that will buy me ten dresses! This is silly... come on, we're going back to the wise woman.'  

  • 'No, no... I want to go to the doctor of physicHe'll know what to do,' demanded the rich man.  

  • And so they made their way even further down the  street until they came to a large housethe  

  • home of the doctor of physic. The rich man  and his wife were shown into a waiting room,  

  • where they waited and they waited and they waited.  

  • Finally, the doctor of physic called them and they  made their way to his office. He sat there behind  

  • a large desk. The rich man was very impressed with  the room, the paintings and the furniture and he  

  • began to tell the doctor of physic of the pain in  his foot. The doctor of physic held up his hand:  

  • 'I will cast your horoscope so I can understand  the alignment of your stars. Then I will require  

  • from you a urine sample. From this I can  understand the balance of your humours.  

  • Then, I will ascertain the cause of your illness  and the necessary plan of action to make you well again.'

  • He then looked at the rich man expecting  him to say something, so the rich man asked  

  • 'how long will it take?' – 'About a week.'

  • The rich man thought... he thought about his pain. Could he really cope with that for a week?

  • 'Is it going to hurt?' he asked. – 'Non opusdurissiumum no!'

  • Which is... well you've probably guessed it...  Latin for 'if it isn't, it isn't working'.  

  • 'How much will it cost?' asked the rich man. '20 pounds,' said the doctor of physic.  

  • And with that his wife, furious, stood up  and dragged the rich man out of the house.  

  • 'Right,' she said, 'we are  going to see the wise woman!'

  • The rich man conceded and they both walkedor  in his case hobbledback to the place where the  

  • pain had first hit him. As they approached, the  wise woman smiled and got up from her stool. The  

  • wife explained how her husband had a poor foot and  asked if there was anything that could be done.  

  • The wise woman gently encouraged him to sit on her  stool and she took a quick look at his foot

  • She frowned and then began to search in her basketAs she did so, she asked if anything had been done  

  • for the pain. The rich man and his wife began  to tell the story of their journey to see the  

  • apothecary, the barber surgeon and the doctor of  physic. The wise woman looked at them.

  • Clearlythey had money to spend and yet the wife's dress  was so old and outdated. As the rich man began to  

  • detail the fine paintings in the doctor's houseshe drew from her basket a pair of pliers and at  

  • the same time dropped a coin – a pennyon the  floor. With the sound of the penny dropping the  

  • rich man bent down to collect it and while he was  distracted she pulled out from his foot a nail.  

  • The rich man and his wife stared at the wise woman  as she handed over the nail. It was very long and  

  • must have been very painful. She reached behind  her to get a fresh cobweb. She placed it over the  

  • hole in the man's foot and the bleeding stopped.

  • 'How much?' asked the rich man.

  • 'Why nothing' said the bemused wise woman, 'but I do think  you ought to buy your wife a new dress,

  • for all the good care that she's taken of you'.

  • And with that the rich man did.

  • And so the moral of my story is sometimes the  simplest answer is right there in front of youbut you can't see it for looking!  

  • Now, I've finished so I best go and lay a fire. It's been good to share my stories with you

  • I hope I see you again. Best wishes.

  • [Music]

Oh! Good day to you! Have  you come for another story?  

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A Rich Man's Poor Foot | Tall Tales from History #7

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    Summer 發佈於 2021 年 10 月 09 日
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