The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1883-11-14

the Jeweler closed his shop, put up the
shutters 80 that no one could peep in,
bolted the door behind him, and, stand
ing in the middle of the room, he turned
the ring and cried: 81 wish instantly
to possess million gold piecesl"
No sooner said than the great, shining
gold pieces came pouring down upon
him in a golden torrent over his head,
shoulders and arms. Pitifully he cried
for mercy, and tried to reach and unbar
the door; but before he succeeded he
stumbled and fell bleeding to the ground
As for the golden rain it never stopped
till the weight of the metal crushed the
floor, and the jeweler and his money
sank through to the cellar. The gold
still poured down till the million was
complete, and the jeweler lay dead in
the cellar beneath his treasure.
The noise, however, alarmed the
neighbors, who came rushing over to see
what the matter was; when they saw the
man dead under his gold, they ex-
claimed: "Doubly unfortunate he
whom blessings kill Afterward the
heirs came and divided the property.
In the meantime the farmer reached
home in high spirits and showed the
ring to his wife.
Henceforth we shall never more be
in want, dear Wife" he said. "Our
fortune is made. Only we must be very
careful to consider well Just what we
ought to wish.n
The farmers wife, of course, proffered
advice.
Suppose" said she, "that we wish
for that bit of land that lies between our
two fields2"
"That isn't worth while, - her husband
replied. eff we work hard for year
we'll earn enough money to buy it,"
So the two worked very hard, and at
harvest time they had never raised such
a crop before. They had earned money
enough to buy the coveted strip of land
and still have a bit to spare.
See, " said the man, "we have the
land and the wish as welln
The farmers wife then suggested that
they had better wish for COW and
horse. But the man replied: "Wife,
why waste our wish on such trifesY The
horse and COW we'll get anyway"
Sure enough, in years time the money
for the horse and COW had been earned.
Joyfully the man rubbed his hands.
" The wish is saved again this year, and
yet we have what we desire. How lucky
we areln
But now his wifeseriously adjured him
to wish for something at last. "Now
that yo' I'VE wish to be granted" -" she
said, you slave and toll, and are con-
tent with everything. You might be
king, emperor, baron, even gentleman
farmer, with chests overflowing with
gold; but you don't know what you
want"
d" We are young and life is long" he
answered. "There is only one wish in
the ring, and that is easily said. Who
knows but sometime we may sorely need
this wish Are we in want of anything
Have we not prospered, to all peoples
astonishment, since we possessed this
ring 2 BE reasonable and patient for
awhile. In the meantime, consider
what we really ought to wish forn
And that was the end of the matter.
1t really seemed as if the ring had
brought blessing into the house
Granaries and barns were full to over
flowing, and in the course of few years
the poor farmer became a rich and portly
person, who worked with his men afield
during the day, as if he, too, had to earn
his daily bread; but after supper he
liked to sit in his porch, contented and
comfortable, and return the kindly greet
ing of the folk who passed and who
wished him respectful good-evening.
So the years went by. Sometimes,
when they were alone, the farmers wife
would rar,f,,1 hn,- l,,,c1o,1 of L.
ring, and suggest many plans. But as
he always answered that they had plenty
of time, and that the best thoughts come
last, she more and more rarely men
toned the ring, and at last the good
woman ceased speaking of it altogether.
To be sure, the farmer looked at the
ring and twirled it about as many as
twenty times a day; but he was very
careful never to wish.
After thirty or forty years had passed
away, and the farmer and his wife had
grown old and white-haired, and their
wish was still unasked, then was God
very good to them, and on the same night
they died peacefully and happily.
Weeping children and grandchildren
surrounded the two cofiins; and as one
wished to remove the ring from the still
hand as a remembrance the oldest son
said: "Let our father take his ring into
the grave, There was always a mystery
about it; perhaps it was some dear re-
Our mother, too, so often
looked at the ring-she may have given
it to him when they were young"
So the old farmer was buried with the
ring, which had been supposed to be a
wish-ring, and was not; yet it brought
as much good fortune into the house as
heart could desire.-ARna Eich5erg an
ST. Nicholas.
Showers of Fishes.