The Old Man and His Pig (A Tale)

4.8

There was once a village. The name of the village was Ulm. The people who lived in Ulm were not very clever. They believed everything they heard, and they were sure you would fall off the earth if you ever came to the edge of it.

The wisest man in Ulm had a pig that he loved very much. And when he had to go away, he took the door of his house with him, so that thieves could not break into his house and steal his pig.

One day when he was carrying his door on his back, he met an old woman.

“Why do you carry that door on your back?” the old woman asked.

“So that thieves will not break into steal my little pig,” answered the wise old man.

“Well, I have nothing in my own house worth taking,” said the old woman, “but I have a wonderful garden. I’ll go back and take the gate, and then nobody will be able to get into my garden and take my potatoes.”

So the old woman went back and took her gate and put it on her shoulders.

Very soon the wise old man met a young farmer who said,

“Why do you carry that door on your back, old man?”

“Oh, so that thieves will not break into my house and steal my little pig.”

“Well,” said the farmer, “I have often worried that somebody will come near my pond and frighten my ducks. I have put a great fence around the pond, but I see that it’s not enough. I’ll go home and dig up the fence and carry it with me. Then nobody will be able to get through it to the pond.”

So the young farmer went home and dug up the fence, and the old man went on his way with the heavy door on his back.

Soon the old man met another woman.

“Why do you carry that heavy door on your back, old man?” she asked him.

“Oh, so that thieves will not break into my house and steal my little pig.”

“That is very wise,” said the woman. “Now I know what I shall do. I have bought a beautiful bed, and I am always afraid that somebody will lie on it in dirty clothes. I’ll go home and take my door, too. Then nobody will be able to lie on my bed.”

So the woman went home and took the door and carried it about the town. And the wise old man went on his way.

Soon the old man came to where he was going, and then he turned around and went back home. When he came home, he began to call his pig. But the pig did not come.

“That’s strange,” the old man said. “Nobody has taken it, because nobody could break into the house, because there was no door.”

The old man looked under all the chairs, and the table, and the bed, but could not find his pig. He went out and walked down the road.

Soon he came to the old woman’s house.

“Have you seen my pig?” he asked.

“No, I have not seen your pig. But somebody has been in my garden and has dug up all my vegetables. I cannot understand how it happened, because I took the gate with me. So nobody could come in!”

The old man shook his head and went on his way.

Next he met the young farmer.

“Have you seen my pig?” he asked.

“I have not seen your pig,” the farmer said, “but somebody came to the pond and frightened all my ducks.”

The old man said nothing and went on his way.

When he passed the young woman’s house, he heard a great noise. He went in. The young woman stood near her bed crying.

“My bed, my clean bed!” she shouted.

And there was his pig in the middle of the bed!

“I do not understand,” said the old man. “How could my pig come in if you took the door with you?”

“I don’t know,” the woman cried. “What shall I do?”

The old man thought and thought.

“I know,” he said, “I should have taken my pig with me, instead of the door.”

“And I,” the young woman said, “should have taken my bed with me, instead of my door.”

“And I should have taken my ducks with me, instead of the fence,” said the young farmer, who came up to them.

“And I should have taken my vegetables with me, instead of the gate,” said the old woman, who came up just then.

“That’s what we’ll do from now on,” they all said.

And that’s what they did, of course. As the old man carried his pig all the time, it got thin, and the old woman’s garden did not grow, and the young farmer’s ducks never laid any more eggs, and the young woman’s bed became very dirty, but, as the old man very wisely said,

“What does that matter so long as our things are safe?”

And all the silly people of Ulm agreed he was right, and very, very wise.