STORIES
The River, The Baker and The Dam by Allen W. Yoakum
Posted: 17 Sep 2008 09:19 AM CDT
Contributed by: Allan Jachem
Once there was a village in a valley were about 100 people lived. Mostly
adults with some children. These people were farmers for the most part and they
all lived by a river which was only about five feet deep and six feet wide. The
river was fed by a medium sized lake to the north far from the village. The
river and lake had many fish and the people caught the fish in the river in the
warmer parts of the year.
The fish were a major part of the food which they ate along with corn,
wheat and chicken. Milk came from goats and fruit from the trees along the
banks. All of these things depended on the river which never flooded the people
out. Life was good for the villagers.
In the village was a man who made bread for the village. He and his wife
would get up early in the morning and crush wheat with two large stones. This
man named Dan would roll the stone back and forth over the wheat to make flour.
Day in a day out the two made bread and bartered it for services and items they
needed. Everyone enjoyed the bread, picking Dan over Bill who also made bread.
Dan had a problem, he only had a few loaves left to barter off each day.
The reason was that it took so long to crush the wheat.
Dan wanted to make more and had an idea to make flour by using a paddle
wheel on the river and gears which would push a stone wheel around and do the
work for him. It worked well and Dan was success. He had enough loaves for
every family and they were happy for a while. As a result Dan became wealthy.
He had goats, chickens, and other things. Dan's home was large and well built
and his clothing suitable. After some time the people became mad that he still
made them give him things for the bread.
The people in the village asked him to give up taking things and just
give them the bread if they gave him the wheat. The reason Dan was asked to do
this act was, "You're rich and some people need the bread." said the people.
Dan was understandably upset. He stood firm and would not give up any bread for
free. The reaction of the village was to impose a tax on Dan of twenty loaves
every day. The bread would go to the poor people of the village. Dan tried to
show the tax was wrong. The village just thought he was being greedy and would
not listen. The chief came out every afternoon and collected the tax.
This cut into Dan's stock of loaves he could sell by a third. Dan had
less to sell so he raised the price and built a bigger paddle wheel which
covered half the river. The people got madder and they all voted to raise the
tax by thirty loaves a day. Dan, who could make only one-hundred loaves and
needed five for his family which had grown to four people, now had only
sixty-five to barter so he again raised the price. Yet another tax was imposed,
this time up to seventy-five loafs. Dan now had two mills which covered the
whole river. He also had to hire two men who were smart and learned to make
good bread quickly. This made Bill ,who was a poor baker, mad. Bill forced Dan
to hire him using the greed of the people who wanted more bread. They figured
if two bakers were working more bread could be made. They took a vote and Bill
won, Dan lost. Dan who needed to take care of his family agreed and hired the
man.
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Soon Dan had to build two more mills due to a raise in the tax to
one-hundred and twenty-five loafs. Dan still took barter raising his price
giving the tax as his reasoning. Yet another tax to one-hundred and fifty due
to other people moving into the village for the free food. Dan was at his wits
end. He had no land to build yet another mill and he was making only
one-hundred and sixty loafs on a good day thanks to Bill.
Dan needed more power so he came up with the idea of damming the river
and pushing the water into a smaller area which would give more torque to turn
a larger wheel which would make more flour. So he sold some of his things to
build the dam/mill while he had to pay the tax. The people were happy to see
Dan losing some of the things he had taken from them and that he might be able
to pay the high tax. The village numbered one-hundred and seventy-five.
Dan built the dam knowing what it would do to the river, the land and the
village. He begged the village to lower the tax so he could do business and
live. The people figured he was lying to get out of helping the needy
one-hundred and fifty of the village. Dan was in fact told to build the dam and
pay one-hundred and seventy-five loafs a day.
Dan built the dam and since he lived far from where the others dwelt the
flooding was ignored or not noticed. Soon the river dried up near the village
and the people had no fish. The farmers had no water for the wheat, the goats
or the trees along the river banks. No water for drinking and no wine because
the vines had died.
The people were as mad as hell, as Dan expected. They had a meeting
demanding Dan release the river. Dan said "Fine if they lowered the tax." The
people screamed he was lying so he could get rich. Dan had had enough and left
taking his family with him and most of his possessions. Baker Bill, who was not
to good at baking, took over the mill and Dan's home. He tried to make good on
the tax but the best he did was half.
Soon harvest time came and all the plants were dead and most of the
animals. No wheat meant no bread but still the people yelled for it. "For the
needy!" Bill, the not so good baker, was in trouble so he left as well. With no
fish, fruits, wheat or animals to eat, or water to drink within reach people
got hungry. The village was in trouble. They screamed it was Dan and Bills
fault. They built the dam/mill making the men walk far for fish and water.
Taking away the wheat so there would be no bread. "Needy people have needs!"
they yelled to the sky. The village was dead by winter.
Nobody thought to take the dam away to give them back the fish, fruits or
water for all to drink, animals included, or wheat and corn for eating or
making bread. No, taking the mill away would mean no chance of imposing the tax
ever again. No tax and the needy starve. Maybe, but the village starved because
of the tax. The moral of the story: If you want money to flow and support the
people you have to release it by taking away the taxes on it.
You may also like to read -
a.. The Triple Filter Test
a.. Faith in Goodness
a.. THE PEBBLE
a.. FEAR
a.. A Hair Raising Story
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