Paphos People

CHRISTMAS IS COMING

The old man had not had a good year, but now Christmas was coming and his luck could only improve for the better.
However at the moment he was sat in a cold damp dungeon in the Lord’s castle. There was a pile of straw in the corner of the eight by four cell with a narrow slit in the stonework which allowed enough light to see but that was all. He contemplated his situation here he was on Christmas Eve, sentenced to three months in the dungeon for theft!
It wasn’t even theft, he had found the egg in the hedgerow, a stray chicken had probably laid it there over the last few days. What a stroke of good luck, it would be a rare treat for his family that evening, but unfortunately for the old man it wasn’t his lucky day. Rounding a corner in the lane he came across a group of the Lord’s soldiers.
“Halt! What have you got in your hand?” yelled the captain.
“It’s an egg Sir to feed my family.”
“Where did you get it?”
“I found it Sir in the hedge”
“Who does it belong to?”
“It don’t belong to nobody Sir.”
“Rubbish, it must have belonged to the chicken it came from, which in turn belongs to the estate, which is owned by his Lordship so by your own admission you are guilty of theft from his Lordship. You’re in big trouble sunshine.”
Things were not going well and he was taken to the castle. The facts were listened to by the guard commander.
“We’ve got to make an example of this kind of thing or the rest of the peasants will just go around helping themselves to things like windfall fruit, vegetables - everything. Three months in the dungeons!”
He was taken down to the bowels of the castle and thrown in a cell.
“Look at it this way mate with a bit of luck you’ll be out by Easter” said the guard with a chuckle.

What had started out as a bit of a lucky day had turned into the most unlucky day of his long life so far, he settled down into his pile of straw and tried to get some sleep.
The next day was Christmas Day and it was the most miserable one the old man had ever known. He just sat there, nobody to talk to, nothing to do, just brooding on his unlucky situation. After what seemed a lifetime he was startled by a hatch in the door sliding open.
“Dinner time, don’t eat it all at once Ha Ha Ha” A crust of bread and a mug of murky water was thrust at him.
He looked at it, Christmas Dinner - a dry crust and rank smelling water surely things couldn’t get any worse? Suddenly a scraping noise jerked him into action. What was it? There was some dust falling in a little pile on the floor. Going over he looked as a small stone in the wall was gradually retracting until such time that he could see through to the cell next door.
“Hello mate” said a cheery voice “Merry Christmas”
“Huh! Some Christmas this is, freezing cold with only bread and water for food.”
“What! Haven’t they given you a proper dinner? Every Christmas the Lord gives all of us prisoners a turkey dinner with roast potatoes, carrots, sprouts and lashings of gravy. It’s worth waiting all year for. He’s not a bad bloke really you know, maybe you were so late coming in they didn’t put you on the list.”
“That’s just my luck at the moment.” The old man said.
“Tell you what, I’ve got far too much gravy here, if you pass your crust through to me, I’ll soak it in my gravy until its dripping then pass it back to you.”
The old man actually smiled, even in this place the spirit of Christmas was alive, his stomach rolled at the thought of what was coming. His luck had turned for the good at last. Licking his lips in anticipation, he passed the crust through the gap and waited.
As he watched the stone slid back into the hole!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!