Return of the Magic Egg Peddler
By
Valerie L. Egar
A
long time ago, a well-dressed peddler in a handsome donkey cart sold the
townspeople of Dolton a wagon full of coconuts, saying they were ‘magic wishing
eggs.’ “These eggs will grant whatever
you desire, if handled properly,” he’d told them. Though the peddler intended
the shipment for Dundershine, the townspeople of Dolton would not be outdone
and offered the peddler ten times what the Dundershiners offered to pay. He
took their money and hightailed it out of town.
Though
the Dolton villagers never expected to see him again, a year later his red cart
wheeled into town on market day, just like the year before. His donkey was
fatter and the peddler, who was tall with a well-trimmed beard, had added a few
inches to his girth. Like the year before, the cart was full of coconuts.
Word
spread that the scoundrel who cheated them was back in town. An angry crowd
quickly gathered. The peddler stood. “Good citizens of Dolton, how happy I am
to see to you!”
“We
want our money back!” shouted one man.
“You’re
a fraud,” yelled a woman.
The peddler
frowned. “Did the magic eggs not work?”
The
crowd roared. “Not one of ‘em!”
The
peddler held up his hands. “I am on my way to Dundershine, since they missed
their shipment last year and I always keep my promises. Would I drive through
Dolton if I cheated you? No! You’d never see me again.”
A
few people in the crowd nodded. That they would never see him again if he were
a cheater seemed logical.
“I
guarantee my products. I told you that last year. If you used the eggs
properly, I stand ready to give each and every one of you your money
back.” He took a fat wallet from his
pocket and placed it on the cart seat. “Now step right up and tell me why you
were dissatisfied.”
A
gruff man walked to the front. “’Cause it didn’t work! I held it like you said
and asked for a pretty wife, a house and a good horse. Nothing happened.
The
peddler shook his head. “How many people here made more than one wish?”
Most raised their
hands.
The
peddler sighed. “Do two or three chicks come out of one egg? No. One egg, one
wish. More than that is greedy.”
The
people who had made lots of wishes felt embarrassed. One egg, one wish made sense. They’d done it
wrong.
“Next.”
“I need money. I held the magic egg and
imagined gold,” a woman said, “and I don’t have a drop of it.”
The
peddler considered and shook his head. “I notice your dress is gold color.”
“Like
mustard!” the woman cackled. The crowd laughed.
“And I’ll bet you got the dress after you made
the wish.”
“Yes,
I did,” she said.
“You
visualized the color,” the peddler said, “and a dress that color came to you.
I’m afraid the magic egg worked, but you weren’t specific enough.”
The
woman looked confused.
“Next time
visualize coins, gold coins. Piles of them. That will work.”
Fewer
people were grumbling, more convinced than ever they’d used the magic eggs
incorrectly.
A
young boy stepped forward. “But the eggs don’t work!” he cried. “I wished for a
dog and nothing happened.”
The peddler
pointed to the dog standing next to the boy. “Is that your dog?”
The
boy nodded. “I bought him from a farmer when the egg didn’t work.”
The
peddler smiled. “Then the egg DID work. You wished for a dog and got a dog. You
didn’t think it was going to hatch from the magic egg did you?”
The
boy reddened. “I guess not.”
“Anyone else?” the
peddler asked.
The
town lawyer came to the cart and shook the peddler’s hand, smiling. “I was
angry the eggs didn’t work and wished I’d see you again to give you a piece of
my mind and here you are!”
“No better proof
the eggs work than that!” said the peddler.
The lawyer agreed. “Tell me, why are you
wasting the magic eggs on Dundershine when we’d be happy to buy them?”
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Copyright 2018 by Valerie L. Egar. May not be copied, reproduced or distributed without permission from the author.
Published June 10, 2018 Journal Tribune Sunday (Biddeford, ME).
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