The gold coin

 

3.

When grandma Agnes invited Anneliese over the next time, the child felt some trepidation. She had been so proud about her actions on that fateful day. Yet, the story with the horse had played out very differently to what Anneliese had expected.

 

«Where are we supposed to put that horse of yours, we don't have a stable.» her father had said.

 

«Who will feed that horse of yours?» her mother had said «That fodder will only last us for a week.»

 

Thus, they had been forced to sell it to a nearby farmer. He was not able to give them more than a silver coin for it; and even that had been generous.

 

«It is not a strong horse, so it will not pull my plough.» he had said. After inspecting its mouth, he had added «While it is undoubtedly a beauty, it is also rather advanced in age. I suppose I can still use it for pulling my carriage to the market.»

 

Fortunately, the farmer had not cared about the black mark on its neck. Anneliese was also glad that she was still allowed to visit it from time to time. It was not the horse's fault what had happened; and Anneliese had grown rather fond of it.

 

Nonetheless, now she would have to explain herself to grandma Agnes. She had effectively traded a gold coin, worth ten silver coins, for only one silver coin. But more important than the financial loss, was the loss in trust that her grandmother would now undoubtedly have for her.

 

Grandma Agnes begged her to come in. When Anneliese entered the living room, she saw that other guests were there too. Anneliese recognized one of grandma Agnes' neighbors. She also saw the farmer whom they had sold the horse to. There was another lady that Anneliese did not recognize. Grandma Agnes took a seat in her armchair, and began to stroke her cat, as she was fond of doing.

 

«Have a seat my child.» Grandma Agnes said, smiling at her.

 

Anneliese was surprised. She had been ashamed of what had happened, and had worried that she would get a serious talking to. She wondered now why grandma Agnes had called on her to come over, and what were the other people doing there?

 

«Anneliese, tell us the whole story with the horse.» grandma Agnes said.

 

Anneliese was not keen to revisit that. It was hard enough to talk to grandma about it, but having to do it in front of others, and even strangers. What was the purpose? Did grandma Agnes want to shame her in front of everyone? Still, she owed her an apology; and if this is what grandma wanted, then she just had to go along with it.

 

Anneliese told them her version of the story. From time to time, grandma Agnes would ask a question. There was no meanness in her voice. It was all just very matter-of-fact.

 

Finally, Anneliese had finished her story. She felt relieved that it was now all out in the open. She was also glad that the whole thing had been less painful than she had imagined. At least, everyone had listened attentively, rather than looking at her reproachfully.

 

«Well, well.» Grandma Agnes said «Let's try to get to the bottom of this.»

 

Anneliese was not sure what there was to get to the bottom of.

 

«Did you in fact see when the horse got burnt?» grandma Agnes asked.

 

«Well no» Anneliese answered «that happened inside the workshop, when the horse ran in.»

 

«Did the horse make any noise when it got burned?» grandma Agnes asked.

 

«No, I suppose not.» Anneliese answered «but, I did hear the smith groan when he was hit by the horse.»

 

Grandma Agnes turned to the farmer «Tell me again what you told me earlier.»

 

«In fact, the horse never got burnt.» the farmer said «It was just some tar, which came off easily enough when I gave the horse a wash.»

 

Anneliese was glad to hear that the horse had not been injured. So it was just a mistake then.

 

Grandma Agnes continued her questions «Did you ever see the children play in the yard?»

 

«No, there were no children around that I could see.» Anneliese replied.

 

Grandma Agnes turned to her neighbor.«Tell us again about the smith's children.»

 

«To be honest, they were real brats. They were always up to mischief. I caught them once stealing eggs from our henhouse.» the neighbor began «But I was too afraid to punish them. They had those vicious dogs that I was really afraid of.»

 

Anneliese was very disturbed as she listened to the neighbor talk about threatening dogs, it reminded her of the dog fight she had seen.

 

The neighbor continued «In fact, they trained the dogs to fight each other, just so as to terrify everyone. I just tried to ignore it as well as I could.»

 

«Oh no.» Anneliese said «I begin to see where this is all going. You mean to suggest that I was tricked by the smith and his wife? But what then of Lady Clarabelle's horse?»

 

The lady that Anneliese did not know spoke up «Well, I am Lady Clarabelle, and I can assure you that I have never owned such a horse.»

 

«I feel so ashamed.» Anneliese said tearfully «How could I be so stupid?»

 

Grandma Agnes looked at her compassionately «I know you have a heart of gold; that is why I love you so much.»

«The world is wicked, and one must help others in need. You should not change who you are.»

 

After a little pause, she added «Unfortunately though, there are also many tricksters out there, who would like to take advantage of well-intentioned people like yourself.»

 

«Perhaps we can still catch them?» Anneliese suggested.

 

«I'm afraid, they are long gone.» the neighbor said.

 

«I'm so sorry that I lost the gold coin.» Anneliese said.

 

«Don't worry about it too much.» grandma Agnes said «In fact, I must admit that it was not a gold coin that I gave you.»

 

«But the smith bit into it.» Anneliese said.

 

«Well, not all that glitters is gold. There are metal alloys that look and feel very similar to gold, such as brass for instance. In color and hardness, both can be hard to distinguish. But in weight and value, they are of course very different. I guess you could say that you tricked the tricksters, even if you didn't mean to.»

 

«But if you did not give me the gold coin, does that not mean that you did not trust me either?» Anneliese asked.

 

«I just thought you might not be ready yet.» her grandmother replied.

 

Anneliese was reassured that she still had her grandma's trust. She had to laugh, thinking about the tricksters though. «Imagine, what they look like when they discover their error.» she said.

 

They all had to laugh. For Anneliese, it was a lesson well learned. In future, she would be more careful when dealing with strangers, and she would not blindly trust them. Or at least, she would seek the help of others before making important decisions.

 

Yet, everyone agreed that she had a heart of gold; and one day, when she was ready, she would also get the real gold coin that Grandma had promised her.

 

 

 

© Credit for the art work goes to my children Emile and Winnie. All rights of this work are protected.