A Single Act Of Kindness

Once, a wicked old Miser named J. Arthur Skinflint; because an old woman couldn’t pay her rent, had her home taken away from her and the old woman thrown out on the street.

 

But the old woman was a very powerful witch and, pointing a finger at the miser, she put a hex upon him saying that, because he was so stony hearted, the rest of him would also turn to stone.

 

“And unless you can do a single act of kindness”, she told him, “Then stone you shall become and be stone forevermore”.

 

But the miser, because he prided himself upon being a very sensible and rational sort of man, didn’t believe in witches or in curses and so he simply laughed at the old woman.

 

However, the next day when the miser woke up he saw that both his left foot and his right hand had turned into cold grey stone and, seeing them, he remembered the witch’s curse and her words echoed in his head,

 

“Unless you can do a single act of kindness then stone you shall become and be stone forevermore”.

 

But the Miser was too selfish and greedy to think of doing even a single act of kindness and so he said,

 

“I see no problem. I shall just learn to count money with my left hand and use a wooden walking stick to get about with but whatever happens I shall never, never ever do one single act of kindness; not in a thousand years”.

 

And then, going out and hobbling slowly down the street because of his stone left foot, the miser bought a wooden walking stick; the cheapest that he could find and, for the rest of the day, went from door to door with his stick, collecting rent and making the poor people who couldn’t pay it homeless.

 

And at the end of the day he went to sleep, as he usually did, on a mattress stuffed with money and dreamt about owning a large house with roomfuls of gold and jewels.

 

But then, the next day, when he woke up, to the Miser’s dismay, he saw that both of his legs had now turned completely into cold, grey stone.

 

And, again, within his head he heard the curse of the old woman echoing,

 

“Unless you can do a single act of kindness then stone you shall become and be stone forevermore”.

 

However the miser was still so selfish and greedy that he could not bring himself to do anything even the littlest bit kind and so he said to himself,

 

“I see no problem. I shall just have to buy a wheel chair, that is all and have a boy wheel me round in it but, whatever happens, I shall never, never ever do one single act of kindness; not even in ten thousand years”.

 

And so the miser arranged for a wheel chair to be brought to his house and two strong men helped him into it and then he paid a poor boy a few grubby pennies to wheel him about the streets while he collected more rent and made more poor people homeless.

 

And, at the end of the day, the miser went to sleep, this time in his wheelchair, dreaming about owning a house filled with roomfuls of gold and jewels.

 

Unfortunately for the miser, he didn’t wake up the next morning but, instead, what was discovered in his wheelchair was a scowling statue of him made, from hat to boot heel, of cold grey stone.

 

But then what happened was that one man who saw the statue was quite amused by its mean, old angry face and thought that it might make a good gnome for his garden and give his children and his wife and all his neighbours a laugh.

 

And, while it was in his garden, little tweeting garden birds started to perch upon its bald head and long nose and though, at first, the miser was very annoyed and wished that he could move just to shoo the birds away, after many years had passed, he got so lonely and depressed that he began to see the birds as pleasant company and welcomed their visits; even cherished their beautiful song.

 

And when this happened, suddenly, the miser began to turn back from cold, grey stone into warm, living flesh and blood.

 

“Because you have done a single act of kindness”, said the voice of the old woman, laughing and echoing within his head, “Then your curse is lifted”.

 

Now the miser, able to move again; able to breathe the air and to feel his heart beating; skipped around the garden with glee.

 

“Oh what an infernal fool I was to have had such a stoney, cold heart but my heart has changed. Now all I want to do is love life and give thanks for it by being kind and generous to all”.

 

And, from that day forwards, the miser was never miserly again.

 

Instead of grabbing money from the poor he gave away all his money to them and, when he had no money of his own left to give, he worked hard to raise money to help them and, instead of making poor people homeless, he built them houses and hostels and helped tend to their needs.

 

In fact, they say, that after that day no man was ever so generous or full of life and people who knew him would all comment, “Why that old skinflint used to have a heart of stone…remember… but now he has a heart of gold”.