Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Shrewdness (03/07/05)
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TITLE: Lilbeth's test of faith | Previous Challenge Entry
By Chris Gursche
03/09/05 -
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When her father confessed his misdeed to Lilbeth, she was strangely optimistic. “Walter loves only money. It is his great failing. I will yet find a way out,” she promised. Lilbeth focused all of her mental energies on finding a solution to her dilemma. “I will only marry a man of faith,” she finally announced, “for it would not do, at the end of our days together, to find we are spending eternity apart.”
Walter was not concerned. “I have faith,” he boasted.
“Then you have no objection if I put you to the test?” inquired Lilbeth.
“Not only will I pass your test, I will exceed your wildest expectations.” Faith or not, Walter was obviously good at exaggerating. “You may receive my boldness as surety of my faith. I am committed to winning your heart, as I have won your hand.” Walter laughed heartily at his little joke.
Lilbeth interrupted his solitary revelry. “Your test of faith, Walter, is to grow a money tree.”
“A money tree? What, now? It’s the middle of winter!” protested Walter.
“Faith, Walter, faith.”
“But I don’t know how to grow a money tree,” admitted Walter.
“There you are in luck. I know exactly how it is done,” said Lilbeth, and proceeded to give him directions.
That midnight, in the light of a full moon, Walter made his way to the center of his property and proceeded to dig. The ground was frozen solid, and Walter was soon working shirtless, despite the freezing temperature. The sun was peeking over the horizon as Walter wrestled a strongbox full of gold coins off the wheelbarrow and into the hole. He looked around to make sure nobody was watching, covered the hole, and left.
Not two hours later Lilbeth yawned and rubbed her eyes as she answered the loud pounding on her door. “What is it, Walter?” she asked as he stomped in, not bothering to greet her.
“I haven’t slept a wink. Are you sure it’s safe?”
“Do you want a money tree or not?” Lilbeth chided him. “I thought you said you were a man of faith. Now get some sleep before you die of exhaustion. A dead husband won’t do me any good.” With that, she pushed Walter back out the door.
She watched him leave before she quickly dressed and set out after him. Peaking through his window, she made sure he was asleep, then took shovel, wheelbarrow, and a small sapling, and set out to plant a money tree. The ground was still soft from Walter’s earlier efforts. Lilbeth soon reached the lid of the strongbox. She opened it, and began to scoop the gold coins into little purses. When the strongbox was empty, she refilled the hole and planted the sapling. She took the gold purses and hid them in her henhouse.
“Lilbeth,” cried Walter as he burst through her door, “the tree! It’s growing!”
“You’re not surprised, are you Walter?” asked Lilbeth coolly.
“Why no, of course not.” Walter struggled to regain his composure. “What shall I do now?”
“Cover it with straw and water it well.”
Walter tended to the sapling and nursed it through the winter. Meanwhile Lilbeth took some coins, and scraped the gold into flakes, mixing them with glue. On the first day of spring, Lilbeth went out and painted the tips of the tree.
Walter could barely contain himself over this latest development. Finally, his façade crumbled, and he confessed his good fortune to his drinking partners. “You’re a fool, Walter,” they told him. “Everyone knows that you only need one gold coin to plant a money tree.” Their mockery gnawed at his very soul. Finally, he could stand it no longer, and dug up the tree to find the strongbox empty underneath.
“What do they know about money trees? You’ve killed it, Walter,” scolded Lilbeth. “Have you got more gold?”
Walter shook his head sadly.
“Then your only choice is to plant the sapling again. If you have faith, it will still revive and bloom. And when it blooms, then I’ll marry you.” Which never happened. And Lilbeth and her father lived happily ever after.
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