Photo by Raphael Rychetsky on Unsplash
Many years ago there lived an aged farmer, slightly bent by time and hard work, who was in need of a hired hand.
Each week, the farmer traveled to the closest village, a small but well ordered settlement, to sell his produce and livestock at the market. Each week, the farmer asked about for anyone interested and available to help out at the farm.
The farmer was an honorable man but life had been hard and he did not have much to offer. He couldn’t offer gold, he couldn’t offer livestock… all he could offer was room and board and a share of the future crop.
Many young men and women spoke to him but they wanted money and they wanted it now. Most wanted to move from the village to the city where life was more exciting. Week after week, the farmer spoke with these young people but as the season progressed their numbers dwindled. The farmer started to become frustrated. How was he going to manage the work that needed to be done as the weather turned? What could he offer one of these young folks? What was he going to do?
As can be the way of things, the more desperate the farmer became the harder it was for him to see the opportunities that life presents. Over the past several weeks, a willow thin young man had made the farmer’s acquaintance and helped him to set out his goods from time to time. The farmer had asked the young man, “What can you do?”, to which the young man said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.” An odd answer, to be sure, thought the farmer and he thought no more of hiring the young man.
The weeks passed and at the final market of the year, the farmer, upon seeing the young man again, asked him, “What can you do?’, to which the youth again replied, “I can sleep when the wind blows.” The farmer, thinking the young man daft, huffed, “Well, good for you lad but what value is there in being able to sleep when the wind blows??” Out of desperation, the aged farmer asked the youth, “Would you be willing to give me a hand out at my farm as the weather will surely turn soon? I’m old and need help. I cannot offer you much and I have no gold. I can offer you room and board and if you stay on till harvest next year, a share in the harvest.” The young man tipped his cap and nodded his agreement.
Packing up at the market, the farmer noticed that the lad was steady and thorough. He knew his work and went about it. The farmer, for the first time in a long time, thought his fortune was looking up.
Over the next several weeks, the farmer and the young man did the work around the farm that needs to be done after harvest. Fences were mended, livestock fed and cared for, tools repaired, grain stocked and buildings tightened up. The young man did the work as instructed by the old farmer.
The weather began to change and on a cold and dark evening a gale rose. The farmer stiffly got out of bed, pulled on his woolens and grabbed his waxed canvas coat before giving a shout to the lad up in the loft, “Come on boy! The weather is up and we need to make sure everything is squared away.” There was no answer. The farmer, perplexed and grumpy, gave another call, to which the lad sleepily responded, “I can sleep when the wind blows.” The farmer, enraged and terrified of the damage that could be done by the gale, dashed out the door cursing the young man’s indolence.
Racing to the barn, the old man found the doors clasped and secure. He rounded to the livestock pen, finding the animals tied off and bedded down in fresh straw. Behind the pen, he found the grain shocks carefully covered and weighted down. Amazed, the farmer returned to the house noticing that the hand tools were all hung and oiled on the wall and that a neat stack of firewood had been placed by the front door.
Everything was in its place and all preparations had been made ahead of the gale.
Peeling off his coat and returning to bed, the old man realized with a shake of his head what the lad had meant when he had said, “I can sleep when the wind blows.” A smile crossed his lips as he blew out the lamp and comfortably laid back down to sleep as the gale blew.
***
This is an old story that has been retold many times. I love it and wanted to share it with you ahead of the holiday season here, in the United States. Fortune favors the prepared and being good is better than being lucky. Do the work and sleep well!
Written by: Austin Meyermann, Founder and President of Hunter Crown, LLC
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