A long time ago, there was a rich old man who loved wine and good food above everything else. And he had a servant who loved drinking and eating as much as his master did.
Each time the rich old man went out, he had to hide his wine and food away. But each time the servant found them and he helped himself to the bottles of wine and all the nice food. Of course, the rich old man knew who did it and was displeased. But he could do nothing about it because he had never caught his servant drinking his wine or eating his food.
One day the old man was invited to dinner at the home of one of his friends. He did not know what to do with the wine, meat and chicken he had just bought. Certainly he could not leave them to the servant. Then he had an idea. He called up the servant and said to him:
“I’ll be away for the whole evening, and I’ll leave you to look after the house. In the cupboard there are two bottles filled with poison. Be careful about it. You’ll be killed if you take even a drop of it. There is also some meat and chicken in the cupboard. Take care of them.” With these words the rich old man left home.
As soon as the master turned his back, the servant opened the cupboard and began to enjoy all the nice things in it. He emptied the two bottles and ate up the meat, the chicken and everything else he found in the cupboard. He was satisfied and soon fell asleep.
At mid-night the rich old man returned home. He looked into the cupboard and, to his great surprise, all his wine and food were gone. He was mad with anger and called the servant up.
“Oh, Master,” the servant began before the old man could open his mouth. “While you were away, the neighbour’s black cat stole into our kitchen and ate up everything in the cupboard. I knew you would be very angry with me. I was so afraid that I drank the two bottles of poison to kill myself.” There were even tears in the servant’s eyes. “Oh, Master,” he continued. “Please don’t get angry with a dying man. I’ll soon be dead.”
The rich old man, of course, did not believe a word of his story. But again, he could do nothing about it.
