TWIST OF THE TALE (1)

TWIST OF THE TALE (1)

(This article has been read 403 times)

Posted by Linus on November 27, 2002 (Wednesday)

A story about a boy who thought he was clever enough until he met his match

There are some advantages and very many disadvantages being born in a poor, Jewish family. But it was a very long time before Lyon discovered any of those few advantages.

Lyon was born in a small stone cottage on the outskirts of Shouski, a small town that nestled on the borders of not two but three European nations, Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria .he never knew hi certain date of birth for his family never kept records but he was roughly two years elder to his brother and a year younger than his sister .The stone cottage he lived in was a legacy and the sole memoir of a past full of prosperity, at least by shouski�s standards. But Lyon was just a bit late to have known that splendorous time of their family. When he had arrived to this world, the cottage was already overcrowded and by the time he walked, he had a brother and a baby sister.

Lyon was a curious and inquisitive child right from the beginning. He was full of awe of his father, of whom he saw very little, left the house at dawn and did not return until nightfall. His mother explained he was going about his work.� what�s work mother� asked Lyon.� He is tending cattle left to him by your grandfather� she explained making no pretence that a few cows constituted a herd. Right from that day, Lyon sought to find about that big, new world his father went into work each day.

As years went by, his mother worried about the dominance of the father�s characters in Lyon. This fear was first aroused when Lyon had learnt to crawl and was found at the doorstep, from then his attention was diverted from his mother, a poor creature chained to the agony of the domestic chores and focused on his father who went out into a strange world into which he was raring to plunge into.

Once Lyon was permitted by his mother to go along with his father, he quickly became bored with the cattle that had to be fed and then waited on to be milked. Soon he looked forward to Saturday when his father went into the town hall to barter the meager diary products from his so-called farm for even more measly grains and other household requisites. It wasn�t much of a market but to the small child�s eyes it was a whole new world that was opened out to him, a whole new world to explore. Even in his pre- teens, he was surprised at his father who never bargained. When the rest of the world was quarrelling over the prices, his father was merely content to pay at the price the vendor asked for. Lyon noticed that his mother was progressively becoming disdainful at the bartered goods. However warmly Lyon spoke to her, she didn�t seem too pleased at the results of the weeks labor.

Lyon at that instant decided that he had enough following his father to the fields. The very next day, after his father left for the fields, Lyon struggled into a pair of shoes that he had overgrown and scampered off to the market. He spent the rest of the day watching the traders using various techniques to cajole the customers into buying their goods. He enjoyed all the more watching people of different tongues conversing for it was not very strange to find several dialects there for the marketplace was common to the villages at the periphery of three different countries. As time went by Lyon was surprised to find he speaking several languages. He soon came to realize that a barterer�s skill entirely depended upon his ability to convince the customer of his need for the product. He soon understood that most people like his father ended up with a poor deal

That year was particularly retrogressive for the Masterships father had no choice but sell some of the calves. He watched his father trade a calf for a sack of potatoes and a few currency notes in return. But Lyon realized he was ready for the bartering than his father. The young but skilful barterer took control and that evening his mother just stood staring at the pile of goods on the floor.

But what she didn�t know was there was a piece of paper with the number 10 on it that lay in Lyon�s pockets. He spent the whole night dreaming up what he would do with it the next day. He straight walked into jewelry and found himself facing an old man. He asked in his most grown up tone,� I want to buy that necklace�. The old man, MR.Lewski, didn�t laugh .He was surprised at the impudence of the 10 yr old. He explained gently that it required far more money than that to purchase the necklace. Soon he found himself sitting by the young boy�s side each day and teaching him the tricks of the trade. He noticed with approval of the young man�s conduct and tutored him on the nuances of bartering. And not to his surprise, Lyon began to go on to barter goods in place of his father every Saturday

That year after Rosh hanshah, he noticed his mother placing her jewelry in a box and place it beneath a loose floorboard in the cottage. As time may have it in store for him, he decided it was time for him to try his hand at being the vendor. He stealthily removed the box from the house and hid it in the fields. What he didn�t know was that his mother was watching him all along and the moment of truth hit her hard but she chose not to make a big deal of it as Lyon was bringing home quite an amount of goods and money that she felt it was best left to his decision.

The next day Lyon went through the contents of the box to discover it contained nothing but few old worthless coins, that�s what it appeared to him and a very beautiful and shining brooch that glittered with quality even to his inexperienced eyes.� It is worth a fortune,� he said to himself. The very touch of the brooch made him shiver with ecstasy and royalty. He felt like kings of the olden age .He decided to trade the brooch the very next day.

When the clock struck nine, Lyon was displaying the contents of the box in the market. No sooner than he did so, a farmer dropped his bags and pointed to coin asked in Hungarian, �How much does that brooch cost?� Lyon had learnt far more from Lewski to understand that the farmer was sizing him up. He responded with another question � How much do you have to offer?� He replied � six potatoes� Lyon asked for twelve. The farmer scowled. �Nine is my final offer� �I wouldn�t give it nine on my soul� He hoped that he sounded like Mr.Lewski. � My first offer is my best offer� The farmer shook his head and walked away. Had he acted against his better judgment, he wondered. He cursed himself and rearranged the contents of the box placing the brooch at the center for he prized it far above the rest of the lot.

Lyon soon had a Turk pointing at the brooch. � How much do you have to offer?� responded Lyon. � A sack of my best grain � said the farmer proudly removing a sack from a laden donkey. � Why do you need that brooch?�Enquired Lyon, remembering another one of Mr.Lewski�s techniques. �It�s my wife�s birthday tommorow�explained the Turk � and I forgot to give her a present last year,� he added remorsefully. � I�ll trade this beautiful heirloom, a legacy of the past� holding up the brooch, Lyon continued � which has been in my family for over several generations for that ring on your finger ��� �But my ring is gold� said the Turk laughing �but your brooch is only silver� ����. And for a bag of grains� Lyon said emphatically, as if he was never given a chance to complete his sentence. �You must be mad �cried the Turk.� Why is your wife not worthy of it or is she to be forgotten for another year� Lyon remained firm in his deal. The Turk eventually replied � Well! The ring I agree to but not the bag of grains � Lyon frowned but he knew it was fortune that he ended up with this deal. He pretended to consider and replied � Well, I agree but only because it is your wife�s birthday� It was one another of Mr.Lewski�s methods. Let the customer feel that he has struck up the better half of the bargain. That afternoon, the Hungarian farmer returned � Well I changed my mind. I�ll give you twelve spuds for that coin� Lyon realized that the silver coin was more worthy than he thought it to be and tried to push his luck a bit farther � I need fifteen not twelve� �But just in the morning you wanted twelve� �Since then you have traded the better half of your potatoes and I insist upon inspecting the spuds too� The farmer scowled but the deal was fixed. The pretty silver coin was in the farmer�s pockets and Lyon had fifteen potatoes.

Time went by and Lyon had struck far more deals than he had ever done so in the past. When he thought of calling it a day, he noticed Mr.Lewski. He came upon Lyon�s little setup and smiling paternally said, � My little trader you have struck quite good transactions this day. As he came closer, his eyes lit up but he nonchalantly said, � My boy! How can I go on without buying something from you? Tell me my son how much does that cost� pointing to gold ring the he had obtained from the Turk. Lyon knew that it was going to be slippery dealing with Mr.Lewski. Lyon responded with a smile and said, � What do you have to offer my dear sir?� The old man smiled and said � A HUNDRED KORUNAS� Lyon would have been satisfied with that but decided to put the central dogma of trading � ASK FOR THRICE THE VALUE AND SETTLE FOR TWICE�

� It is pure gold sir, it�ll take at least 300 korunas sir� �Oh my boy, Are you teaching me the tricks of the trade? I�ll give you 200 korunas not more than that� Not easily perturbed, Lyon tried his luck, � no sir, I wouldn�t settle for anything less than 250 sir� Mr.Lewski frowned and replied � Fine, I shall take it for 250 korunas but only if you throw in that old coin� and pointed to a small old and dirty coin. Lyon pondered over it and decided that the coin was worth no more than a bag of grains and let it go.

Very casually, masking his delight over the deal, he said � Ok sir, since you taught me the trade, I steal myself of a profit� and handed over the gold ring and flipped the old coin to Mr.Lewski�s hands.

�Yes my boy, you�ll never forget the old man you learnt the art from�

Mr.Lewski held the ring very carefully and put it into his pocket after admiring it along with the little coin. Lyon wondered what more the old man had left to teach him as he saw the old man�s head disappear among the crowds. Lyon returned home with a huge profit and by his behavior, his mother appreciated her judgment to let him have the old box. She knew what he had returned with was far more wrathful than the silver brooch and the old useless coins.

The next day, Lyon decided to get on with some buying for the family. He got some loaves of bread, a chicken and a brand new bucket for his mother. It suddenly struck him to buy the necklace at Mr.Lewski�s Jewelry. The necklace that he had longed to buy for his mother, the necklace that led to his acquaintance with Mr.Lewski. He went into the jewelry and smiled at Mr.Lewski.

Lyon dropped hi bucket in disbelief. In the place of the necklace was an old coin that looked so familiar with a label that it was a coin inscribed with the head of the Czar Nicholas I and was dated 1829. But what made him drop the mouth was the price card � Five thousand eight hundred korunas� it read Surely Lyon had quite a few lessons to learn from Mr.Lewski