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Picture - On the Alte Donau in Vienna
The Old Man and the Cellar
Last month,
I heard an interesting story. A slice of Viennese life. And, the
story I heard was all about rats and potatoes.
Once upon a
time, a long time ago, Gerald, a very good friend of mine, used to
work in the city of Vienna. And, in those days, Gerald's job was a
very hard job. A job full of stress. From seven in the morning
until seven at night. A very full day. But, Gerald knew how and
where to escape to. The right place to go for a break. Gerald went
deep underground.
Gerald's
office was in a very old building, and, this old building went down
deep below ground. In fact, this very old building had 4 very deep
cellars. And, it was down to the deepest cellar of all that Gerald
would go every morning with his coffee and cake. And, no one knew
where he was and no one could find him. And, early one morning,
Gerald got a surprise. He was not on his own.
Sitting on a
chair and peeling potatoes was the very old man who worked for the
restaurant upstairs. And, one of his jobs was peeling potatoes. The
others were the washing up of the pots and the pans, and general odd
jobs. And, even more surprisingly, the very old man, too, was not on
his own. He was surrounded by hundreds of rats.
And, the
rats were very happy rats. They were having a very fine meal.
Potatoe peelings. Whilst peeling the potatoes, the old man was
passing the peelings onto the rats. And, after finishing his job, the
old man got up from his chair and said goodbye to the rats. And,
the rats disappeared happily into the darkness. And, the old man was
happy as well. He had no potatoe peelings to carry upstairs. The
rats had eaten them all. Man helps rats and rats help man.
And, even
now, and many years later, Gerald often thinks of that very old man
and the rats in that long ago cellar deep below ground. And, every
time Gerald sees a rat in his garden he smiles. Gerald's fresh
potatoes, too, taste very, very good.
When looking
back on our lives, it's people we think of the most. But, animals,
too, can play a big role. And, rats were important for Gerald. They
crossed his path in a cellar deep underground.
The Old Man
and the Cellar. A true story from life.
On the Alte Donau in Vienna
