Crimson Fairy Book

Chapter 14 Bagpipe Portable City (1)
Once upon a time there was a poor man who had too many children and did not have enough bread for them to eat.But the children were strong and obedient, and soon learned to help their parents.When they grow up they go out to work, and people are willing to employ them as servants, because they work hard and are always very happy.Of the ten or eleven children there was only one who gave the parents any trouble, a lazy boy named Tidu.Scolding, beating, or praise didn't help him, the bigger he got, the lazy he got.In winter he squats by the fire, in summer he sleeps under the shade of a tree.If he's not squatting or asleep, he's playing his flute.

One day, he was sitting under a bush and played his flute briskly, which made people think it was the singing of a bird.At this time, an old man passed by him. "Son, what craft do you want to learn?" He stopped beside the child and asked in a friendly manner.

"If I were a rich man, I wouldn't need to work," replied the boy. "I won't learn any trade, and I don't want to be anyone's servant like my brothers and sisters."

The old man laughed when he heard his answer, and said: "If you don't work hard to get rich, I don't see where your wealth can come from at all. A snoozing cat can't catch mice. If you want to become a rich man One must use one's hands or one's head. Be prepared to toil day and night, or else..."

The child interrupted him roughly:
"Shut up, old man! People have said things like that to me a hundred times. Those words run over me like water off a duck's back. Nobody can make me a laborer."

"You have one talent," replied the old man, paying no heed to his words. "If you will go about playing the flute, you can easily earn not only bread, but a little money. Listen, get a flute." Bagpipes, learn to play it like you play the flute, as long as someone wants to hear you play, I can say that you are no longer short of money."

"But where can I get bagpipes?" asked the boy.

"As long as you play the flute for a few days," the old man replied, "you will be able to buy bagpipes in no time. I will come back soon to see if you take my advice and see if it is possible to become rich." gone.

Tidu stayed in place for a long time, thinking about what the old man said, the more he thought about it, the more he felt that what the old man said was correct.So he decided to have a try, to see if the old man's plan would really bring him luck.He didn't like being laughed at, so he decided not to talk about it with anyone.He left the house the next morning - and never came back!His parents did not take his departure to heart, and were delighted that their useless son had at least shown some courage, and they hoped that time and hard trials would cure his laziness.

In a few weeks, in order to personally prove that what the old man said was true, Tidu traveled from village to village.The people he met were friendly and kind, and liked to hear him play the flute, and in return they gave him food, and some even gave him a few pence.

Tidu carefully put away the pennies until he had enough money to buy a pair of handsome bagpipes.He felt that he was indeed on the road to riches.Nowhere are flutes as good as his bagpipes are to be found, nor are players as skilled as he.Tidu's bagpipes can make people dance.Wherever there was a wedding, christening, or banquet of any kind, Ti must be present, or the party would be ruined.A few years later, he became a famous bagpiper, and people traveled long distances from all directions to hear him play.

One day he was invited to a baptism, and many rich people from the neighboring towns came, who thought they had never heard him play so well in their lives.They surrounded him, praised him, and begged him to come to their house.They said they would lose face if they didn't let their friends hear such beautiful music.Of course Tidu was very happy and happily accepted the invitation.He left their home laden with money and various gifts.One great landowner dressed him in rich clothes, another hung a string of pearls around his neck, and a third gave him new bagpipes wrapped in silver.The ladies and girls coiled silk scarves around his feathered hat, and their mothers wove him gloves of every color to keep him out of the cold.Anyone in Tidu's position will be satisfied and happy with life.But his hunger for wealth was unrelenting, driving himself to new actions day after day.Even his mother couldn't possibly understand him, and he wasn't that lazy kid who was always sleeping here and there anymore.

Tidu knew very well that he could only hope to become a rich man by relying on the bagpipes, and began to think about how to make money faster.At last he remembered a story he had heard of a kingdom in the Connor region, where musicians of all kinds were welcome and paid well.But where is that kingdom, how to get there, he can't remember even if he thinks about it.In desperation, he wandered the coast, hoping to find some ship that would take him where he wanted to go.At last he came to a town called Nerva, where several merchant ships were moored.He was pleasantly surprised to find that one of the ships was going to Kangle in a few days, and he hurried on board to find the captain.But the cost of the ferry was more than the thrifty mentioner expected.Although he played the most beautiful tunes on the bagpipes, the captain refused to reduce the price of the boat.Tidu was about to return to the shore, but luck once again befell him.A young sailor heard his performance, came to see him quietly, and took the initiative to hide him on board while the captain was away.

He also managed to send him some food and drinks while the other crew members were unprepared.When land was out of sight, the seamen intended to carry out the predetermined plan of releasing the bags from the crowded hold.In the middle of the night, when he was on whistle and the others were fast asleep, the man ordered Tidu to follow him on deck.He tied Tidu's body with a rope, and tied the other end carefully to the boat. "Well," he said, "I'm going to throw you overboard, and you must shout for help. When the sailors gather around to question you, tell them that you've been swimming after the ship since it left the shore. .”

Didn't like the plan at first, because the sea was rough, but he was a good swimmer, and besides, the sailor assured him that he would be in no danger.So he jumped into the water, and as soon as he jumped, the seaman hurriedly woke up his colleagues, saying that he was sure that there was a person in the sea following the ship.So they all went on deck, and were very surprised to recognize the man who had bargained with the captain for the boat the day before.

"Are you a ghost or a mortal?" they asked him tremblingly, leaning over the side of the boat.

"If you don't save me, I will soon be dead," Tidu replied, "my strength is exhausted."

The captain grabbed the rope and threw it down at him. Tidu bit the rope in his mouth, and before the sailors saw it, he untied the rope tied around his waist.

"Where are you from?" asked the captain when Tidu was rescued aboard.

"I have been with you since the port," he replied, "and I have been very afraid lest I should exhaust my strength. I wish to swim with the ship to Connor, because I have no money to pay the fare." Hearing these words, the captain Heartbroken, he said kindly, "You should be thankful you weren't drowned. You're so anxious to get to Kangle, I'll send you there for free." The captain changed him into dry clothes and put him to sleep in his berth, Titus and his sailor friend secretly rejoiced at the success of their plot.

The crew treated Tidu better than themselves for the rest of the voyage, for they had never in their lives met a man who could swim so long without a break.Tidu was very happy about this, although he knew that he had done nothing and did not deserve this kind of treatment.In return, he entertained them by playing tunes on bagpipes.

They broke down at Connor a few days later, and his amazing swimming story had given him so many friends that everyone wanted to hear it told by him himself.This was a very good thing at first, but Tidu lived in fear that one day, someone asked him to prove his extraordinary swimming ability, and then everything would be exposed.At the same time, he was dazzled by the magnificence around him, and the rich people were all spending money, which made him want wealth more than ever.

For days he walked the streets, looking for a master who would hire servants.Although more than one person is willing to hire him, they are not the kind of people who can help him get rich quickly for Tidu.Finally, he made up his mind to accept the next job.At this time, he knocked on the door of a rich businessman who was in need of a kitchen helper, so he readily agreed to do the job as a helper.In this rich businessman's home, he knew for the first time how rich the local rich people in Kangle were.Vessels in other countries are made of iron, copper, or tin, but in Kangle these are made of silver or even gold, food is cooked in silver pans, bread is baked on silver stoves, and plates and The lid is all gold.Even the troughs for the pigs were silver.Seeing these things made me even more eager to become a rich man. "All this wealth is before me every day," thought he, "and if none of it is mine, what good is it? There is no way to make a fortune as a kitchen clerk, though I earn as much in a month as I do in a year elsewhere. earn so much."

By this time he had been working here for two years and had saved a large sum of money.His enthusiasm for saving money continued unabated, and he would not even buy new clothes without his master's order.

"Because," said the rich man, "I won't let a man in dirty clothes into my house." So Tidu, with a heavy heart, spent some money on a cheap dress.

One day, the rich man baptized his youngest child and held a grand banquet. To celebrate this festival, he gave each servant a beautiful dress.On Sunday Titus put on his favorite new clothes, which were nice and cheap, and went for a walk in some pleasant gardens.There are many people here on a sunny day.

He sat down under the shade of a tree and watched the pedestrians coming and going.But after a while, he started to feel a little lonely, he didn't know anyone, and they didn't know him.Suddenly his eyes fell on an old man, a figure he seemed to know well, though he could not say when or where he had seen it.He watched the figure until at last the old man left the crowded lane and sat down on the soft grass under a distant lime tree.In order to get a closer look at the old man, Tidu walked over slowly. At this moment, the old man smiled and stretched out his hand.

"Where did you get the bagpipes?" he asked.Tidu recognized the old man immediately, held the old man's arm, took him to a quiet place, and then told him everything that had happened since the breakup.The old man shook his head as he listened, and when Tidu finished telling the story, he said, "You are a fool, and you will always be a fool! Is there such a fool who trades bagpipes for kitchen spoons? You can earn money in a day with bagpipes." Up to half a year's salary. Go back and get the flute, play it here, and you will know whether what I said is true in a while."

(End of this chapter)