A Tale of Two Inns - Democratic Underground

MineralMan

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Fri Sep-03-10 12:28 PM
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A Tale of Two Inns

Edited on Fri Sep-03-10 12:29 PM by MineralMan

A traveler was on a journey on horseback between two distant cities. Since the journey could not be made in a single day, it would be necessary for him to stop along the way for the night. As the sun slowly approached the horizon, he began to feel the pangs of hunger, and started thinking about stopping at an inn along the way. Visions of a plate full of meat and bread passed through his mind. No sooner than he had the thought, he saw a fine-looking inn about half a mile ahead and his mouth began to water in anticipation.

He reached the inn, tied his horse, and went in. The innkeeper greeted him pleasantly. Our traveler said, "I need a room to sleep in and a meal. What have you?" The innkeeper said, "We have a fine room at the top of the stairs and an excellent roast of beef in the oven. The tarrif for a room and a meal today will be 20 shillings." Well, the traveler was shocked at the price of the lodging and food, and more than aware that he had few coins in his purse. If he stayed, it would deplete his funds considerably. "Have you nothing cheaper, sir?" "No, that is the tariff," was the reply. After some thought, the traveler said, "Well, that is too dear, so I shall travel on and find a better bargain down the road." "Godspeed to you, then, sir," said the innkeeper.

Mounting his horse, the traveler rode onward, his hunger increasing as he went. Several leagues further down the road, he finally came to another inn. He tied his horse, and entered. "Welcome, sir. Do you seek a room and a meal?" "I do, indeed, as I am weary and in need of sustenance. What have you to offer?" The innkeeper replied, "It is late, sir, but we have a small room in the garret, and some cold pease porridge." Incensed, the traveler said, "What is this? A poor room and cold gruel? Have you no meat?" "A thousand pardons, sir. A large party arrived an hour ago and took our best rooms and ate all the roast mutton we had prepared, along with all the bread. All that remains is the porridge and a room in the garret." "I shall stay no longer," huffed the traveler. "Surely there is a better inn a bit further along the road. A pox on you for a poor innkeeper, sirrah!"

The traveler stamped out the door, mounted his weary horse, and used his quirt sharply on its hindquarters. The horse walked slowly away from the inn, and the traveler's frustration and hunger grew even more. After another hour had passed, the horse began to slow even further, and showed signs of lameness. Finally it stopped. The traveler dismounted and examined the horse. It was, indeed, lame, with a stone embedded in the hoof of its off foreleg. Picking out the stone, the traveler realized that he could go no further this night. The horse might be able to travel again in the morning, but not now. So, he tied his horse to a sapling near the nearby stream, where grass grew thickly. The horse drank deeply and began to graze.

The traveler resigned himself to sleeping rough and going without his supper. He reflected on his journey and realized that he had made two painful mistakes. In his insistence on thrift, he had no warm bed, nor belly full of good beef and bread. In his refusal to compromise, he had forsworn a meal that would have filled his belly and a bed that would have afforded him a bed much softer than the nearby soil. Now, he had a lame horse, an gnawing emptiness in his gut, and only the promise that the sun would eventually rise after a fitful sleep. He had made bad choices this day, he realized.

Moral: You can't always get what you want, but it's poor wit to pass by what you need.