THE VILLAGE OF WORRIES

THE VILLAGE OF WORRIES!

Somewhere in the past, deep in the heart of the Slavic-Polish-Austrian Regions there was once a village named "WORRY”. It took many years of hard work to attain such a status of worry, its reputation did not arrive without practice. The Villagers of Worry learned early on how to fret and be anxious over everything. They worried about everything that could be worried about. They worried about the past, the present and the future, nothing escaped their worries.

One day their village council of "Woe and Worry" called another "worrisome" meeting to decide what to do about their many worries. After much debate and anxious discussion one excellent suggestion came out on top. It was that the village should hire the poor street sweeper to do all their worrying for them. He would continue to sweep the streets but would collect everyone's worries along the way and get rid of them somewhere! The village council decided to pay old Mendol Shicklegubber, five rubles a week for all the terrible worrying he would be doing. But then they worried on where they would get the extra rubles to pay Mendol and finally decided that this would be Mendol's worry! They voted, and affirmed that this was a very good idea and Mendol was hired for the task of worrying for the village.

Everything seemed to be going along fine, except that poor old Mendol, was now the happiest man in the village. He went about his work with a smile, singing happy songs and beaming at everyone. He stopped at each shop and collected all the worries and would sweep away all their anxieties and sure enough, in time everyone slowly began to give up their worrying. This was not what the council had expected, they had hired him to worry and now it seemed as though he was happier than ever and this began to distress and worry the entire village. They brought poor Mendol Shicklegubber, the happy street sweeper before the council and asked him why he was not doing his job in worrying for them? With some indignation, Mendol replied, "I am doing my job, are not all of you less worried now than when you hired me?"

They couldn't argue with that, for this was true, but they explained to him that he seemed to be far too happy to be carrying around all their worries. "I'm trying, I'm trying, but what is there to worry about, I don't carry them long, but get rid of them as soon as possible, and besides, now that I am making ten extra rubles a week, what on earth is there to worry about?" "Ten rubles, we’re only paying you five," they exclaimed, "where do you get ten rubles and where do you get rid of those worries Mendol," they questioned him intently. "That’s easy, I take them over to the Village of "Bondage" and sell them there for five rubles, there's always someone waiting for me and all the NEW WORRIES I bring. I can't seem to have enough for them, they keep telling me to hurry back again, and are worried that I might not show up each week!”

So the Village of Worry fired old Mendol Shicklegubber for taking their worries away to another village, for they worried that the Village of Bondage would become GREATER WORRIERS than them!