“Friend, I come to tell thee that thou art destined to regain thy
fortune and to live in affluence for a period of six years during thy
life here on earth. It is thine to choose when this period shall begin;
shall it be now or later in life?”
Astonished at the strange words which he had heard, the labourer looked
at his companion to see if he was dreaming.
“Good stranger,” he cried, “art thou a prophet or a magician that thou
speakest in this wise? I fear thou art a poor man even as I am. Go thy
way in peace, for I cannot help thee to-day, for I am penniless at the
moment. I should be happy to give thee a fee for thy happy forecast,
but I cannot give what I have not got. Go in peace and may Heaven send
thee help.”
The stranger went away and the labourer resumed his work without
thinking any more of the strange conversation which he had just had.
After a short interval the stranger returned and repeated the offer,
only to be refused. When, however, for the third time he urged the
unwilling labourer to accept his gift by believing in the proffered
promise, the poor toiler, weary of his hard daily struggle in the
fields, at last consented to consult his wife before coming to a
decision. A glimmer of hope in the possibility of the promise had
arisen in his heart.
“Perhaps, after all,” he thought, “kind Providence has sent this
messenger to help me in my dire distress and that now the poverty which
has harassed me and my dear ones will be replaced by wealth and
prosperity.”
He ran home as quickly as his legs would carry him and told his wife
all that had transpired. He emphasized the insistence displayed by the
stranger. He said to his wife,—
“Assuming that the stranger is speaking the truth and that I am to be
rich for a period of six years, when do you advise me to choose our
time of prosperity—now or later in life?”