The Travelling Musician

15 The Travelling Musician A long time ago, there was a musician who travelled from town to town making money by playing his music. It was a time of great poverty, and musicians were considered beggars. One day, the musician came to a little town. A sign on a post read, “ No beggars and no musicians. " He thought, “ I can't go any farther. I'm so hungry, I can barely walk. " He decided to hide his violin, clean up as much as possible and pretend to be a regular person looking for work. He went from place to place and finally found a rich man who needed a ditch dug. It was terrible work, but the musician needed to eat. As he dug the ditch, he realized that he didn't know how to do it correctly. Then, he heard a young girl playing a violin. It sounded awful. He could not stand it any longer, so he called to the girl, “ Hello there. I've been listening to you playing. "

“ Oh, " the girl laughed. “ I feel sorry for you! I'm terrible! " " I'm not a musician, but perhaps I could show you a couple of things, " he said. He picked up the beautiful violin and played a wonderful song. Soon, the girl's parents came out. " I thought you were a ditch digger! " cried the rich man. " But you are a musician! " " Oh no, I am a ditch digger! " the musician lied. The rich man grabbed the musician's hands. He turned them over and saw that they were smooth and had long graceful fingers. He knew those hands had never held a shovel before. “ This is a terrible ditch. You're fired! " the man said. Depressed, the musician started to walk away, but the rich man called out, “ Perhaps we could use a violin player and music teacher. " The musician ran back and said, “ I think I know just the person. " “ Come with me, ditch digger. I'll show you how to dig a ditch, and you show me how to play a violin! " From that day on, musicians were welcome in the little town.