Picture - Not Jenö's Latest Front Door - By Nigel A. JAMES
When One Door Closes Another One Opens
When
one door closes another one opens
is a popular saying in England. And, some time ago, I
heard a true story from Hungary. It was all about Jenö and Marika.
Jenö was a very good carpenter and Marika his wife was a brilliant
cook.
But,
both Jenö and Marika had one thing in common. Doors. And, this is
Jenö's and Marika's story.
Once
upon a time, Jenö's and Marika's house used to be a very nice
little house. It had a back door, a front door, a garden in the
front and a garden at the back. All very normal and all very pretty.
Then, this nice little house became something unusual.
It
became a confusion of doors. A house with many ways in and many
ways out.
The
first new front door was not long in coming. Jenö and Marika put it
in the side of the house – which then became the new front of the
house - because it was nearer to where they parked their car. Quite
sensible when you think about it. So, now Jenö and Marika had one
back of their house, and old front of their house, a new front of
their house and one side instead of two! And the dog, which used to
be tied up at the back of the house, was then, without being moved,
tied up at the front!
Meanwhile,
Jenö's business became very successful and Jenö and Marika,
because of deliveries of timber, were having to park their car at the
last remaining side of the house which didn't have a door. And, this
was not very convenient. And so, so as to make life easier
still, a new front door was built into this side of the house which
was until then neither the front nor the back, but, after the new
door had arrived, this side of the house then became another front of
the house. Now, three fronts and one back. But, that wasn't all!
In
order to make life more comfortable, Jenö and Marika then put a
door in the first floor – directly above the original front door -
which - by then - had become the latest back door - so, in the
mornings, when everyone was rushing to get ready, they didn't have so
far to go to get to the kitchen and were able to save one or two
seconds by using the new flight of steps which took them down the
outside of the house to where the new back door had appeared. That,
of course, worked perfectly well provided the back door wasn't
looked, which it usually was, so nobody used it!
But,
the biggest challenge of all was the bell! Jenö, being creative,
had connected all of the doors to the very same bell, so, that when
people came calling, Marika had no idea at all as to where her guests
actually were, so, she had to run around from one door to the next
until she finally found them. And, because people were, on the whole,
generally impatient, they started going around and ringing on all of
the other doors, too, and, so the confusion continued. When one door
closes another one opens, or, at Jenö's and Marika's, there's always
a new door to open and shut!
Not Jenö's Latest Front Door!
