From
My English Country
Garden
By Builder Michael
As all experienced travellers will
surely tell you, the joy of travelling has all to do with the small
things that one encounters along the way, and these are the things
that make up the fun of discovery. And, I am, as everyone who knows
me knows, a very experienced traveller, and, I have had, of course,
many interesting encounters with the small truths of everyday life.
I have, for example, found out
that in certain parts of Africa, people do not use cutlery whilst
enjoying their Sunday roast, they prefer, as their traditions
dictate, to make use of their fingers instead. All very
understandable. Why, after all, did God create people with fingers?
But God created the human race so
that people could marry and be happy. On the island of Crete, whilst
visiting one year, I was, by chance, invited to a wedding. And, it
was there, that I witnessed the very nice tradition of giving
everyone present a small present of a porcelain animal to take home
as a keepsake.
But meals on Crete are nothing in
comparison to that which is served up in the Pacific! There are still
many islands, I am told, where people still very much look forward to
the fun of eating each other! And, why not? If you like it, then do
it! Just eat and be happy!
And, that which I found whilst
visiting in Hungary was also unusual. It was an empty milk bottle.
Yes! An empty milk bottle. And,
not so silly as it sounds. It's an old communist tradition that many
Hungarians still practice. And, the reason is perfectly simple.
Hungarian people are amongst the most generous on earth, and there is
nothing that they wouldn’t do for a guest, and that’s why these
empty milk bottles are needed. I soon found out why!
I was asked if I preferred white
or black coffee. I answered that black with two sugars would be fine.
And then, to my great surprise,
Ildiko – my hostess - took a bottle of milk from the fridge! And,
before I could stop her, she proceeded to pour the contents into my
cup! And, because the bottle was empty, nothing came out!
But the real surprise came just a
few seconds later. Ildiko then asked another guest the same
question: with or without milk. The other guest – a lady from
Liverpool - preferred milk in her coffee, and, so it was, that Ildiko
went once more to the fridge and returned with a bottle and started
to pour. But, again, nothing came out.
Oh dear! She exclaimed, my bottle
is empty! She then ran next door to borrow a fresh bottle of milk,
and then, whilst serving the lady from Liverpool, discovered that it,
too, was empty as well! In fact, just like old socialist times!
And so, just like then, you can
have black, or, if you prefer white, but, you can only have white if
there is milk, but, you can only have black if nothing comes out of
the bottle, and only nothing can come out of a bottle that's empty!
And that's why every Hungarian fridge has an empty bottle of milk on
the shelf in the door! Very unusual, I am sure you will agree!
