Week 14: The Servant and the Thief (Storytelling)

An old servant sat in dining room, polishing the silverware for Lord Nathaniel. He was sitting alone, working slowly. His hands were knobbed and stiff. This mundane task used to take him less than an hour. Now he would be sitting working for a third of the day.

Cutlery by Cocoparisienne. Pixabay

He knew his master hated how long it took the old man to do simple tasks. Lord Nathaniel had not even been born when the old servant began working. He had been childhood friends with Lord Nathaniel’s father, Marcus. Marcus had promised the old servant a place in his house as long as he lived. But three months earlier, Marcus had died, leaving Lord Nathaniel in charge of the household. Nathaniel was still so young but thought he had the wisdom of the world.

Lord Nathaniel quickly began to run the household with a firm and hand, yet he was often shortsighted in his decisions. His young wife, Lady Gwen, on the other hand was kind to everyone she met and added compassion to the household. The lord and lady often argued, but they usually reached a compromise quickly.

Because of this, the old servant wasn’t too worried at first when their angry voices were carried down the hallway to the dining room where he sat. But then he began to listen to their argument.

“Nathaniel,” Lady Gwen said sternly. “You cannot just throw him out onto the street. He would be dead within a month!”

“Well, what am I supposed to do Gwen? Let him stay? Feed him, cloth him, give him a place to live? He isn’t doing us any good. I know he was friends with my father but that doesn’t mean I should have to pay for him now!”

“He’s just a kind old man. I’ve talked to him quite a bit and he has worked for your family for half a century! It would be wrong to not let him stay.”

“I’ve made my decision. Tomorrow I’m going to tell him to leave.” Lord Nathaniel ended the conversation abruptly,  and kept Gwen from arguing further.

The old servant sat in shock, the spoon he had been cleaning fell from his hand. He slowly leaned down to pick it up off the floor when Lord Nathaniel walked by the room. He paused for a second to stare unsympathetically at the old man before continuing on his way.

A minute later, Lady Gwen came rushing down the hall. She saw the old man struggling to get up and return to his seat. She quickly rushed forward to help him. “Thomas, are you alright?” she asked the old servant as she grabbed his elbow to pull him up.

“Uh… Well… Yes… Yes, M’lady. I-I’m  fine,” he stuttered, shaken from what he had just heard.

Lady Gwen sat beside him when he finally made it back to his chair. He slowly went back to work polishing the silver under her watchful gaze. “Did you hear?” she whispered.

He looked up at her, but she wouldn’t make eye contact with him. “Yes,” he said just as quietly. “I did, Lady Gwen. I… I wanted to… uh.. thank you for trying to stop him.”

Lady Gwen finally looked up from the table at the old servant sitting next to her. “I’m just sorry it didn’t work. Do you have anywhere to go?” The old man looked back at the spoon in his hand without answering. “I didn’t think so,” Gwen whispered.

They sat in silence for a while, both absorbed in their own thoughts. Finally the old servant said, “I just wish there was something I could do to prove I was useful to Lord Nathaniel.”

Gwen looked up quickly, her eyes wide as a plan began to form in her head. “That’s it!” she shouted, then lowered her voice. After all, she didn’t want Nathaniel to hear. “You have to do something so he owes you. So you’re too valuable for Nathaniel to force you to leave.”

The old servant looked at Lady Gwen’s excitement hopelessly. “Thank you, M’lady. But what could an old man like me do?”

“We could set something up,” Gwen said. “Nathaniel’s father promised you a place here as long as you lived. If you do something heroic, I can convince Nathaniel to keep that promise.”

“M’lady, you had to help me when I tried to pick up a spoon.”

“It wouldn’t have to be real. I have an old friend who owes me a favor. What if I asked him to steal my jewels. If you caught him and returned the jewels to us. I could convince Nathaniel to let you stay.”

“That seems like trickery.” The old servant looked at the stack of unpolished silverware to his side.

“Thomas,” Gwen said, reaching out and putting her hand on top of his. “You have already earned your place here. Nathaniel is being unreasonable.” After more convincing from Lady Gwen, the old man finally agreed.

Later that night the old servant heard Lady Gwen shrieking for Lord Nathaniel to come quickly. That was the cue. As Lord Nathaniel rushed to his wife’s aid, the servant went outside to the front gate. There, waited the fake thief.

As the old man approached, the thief called out. “Are you Thomas?”

The servant nodded. They exchanged the pouch that held the jewels. Both glanced nervously around.

 After a minute or so they heard shouts coming from the entry way. The fake thief quickly went to stand close by the old servant. The old man grabbed fake thief’s arm, who then pretended to struggle enough to make it look good.

Lord Nathaniel came out with Lady Gwen standing behind him, smiling. The old servant returned the jewels  and turned the fake thief to the police, where Lady Gwen arranged his release.

Lord Nathaniel was so pleased with the old servant that he moved him to the most beautiful room in the house and never talked of making him leave again. 

Jewels by James DeMers . Pixabay.

Author's Note: The original story was called Old Sultan. In the original story a master was about to kill his old dog because he was no longer useful to the household. The dog and a wolf team up to make the master keep the dog around. In the original, the wolf  fake-kidnaps the master's baby and the dog goes after him and saves the baby. Later in the story the wolf asks for the dog's help in stealing a sheep but the dog refuses and they begin fighting until finally they reach a peace. 

For my verison I changed the dog to an old servant and had him and the lord's wife team up to save him from being kicked out onto the street. Instead of bringing back a kidnapped baby I have the servant stop a jewel thief. Besides those big changes, gave/changed names of the characters and moved their roles in the story a little. But overall the message and theme of the story is intact to the original.

Story Source: The Grimm Brothers' Children's and Household Tales translated by D. L. Ashliman (1998-2013).