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The Auction
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There was once a father and a son. They lived together, and
they took care of one another. The wife/mother was long gone,
so all they had was each other - and their love of fine art.
Their collection contained at least one of the works of all the
masters - Rembrandt, Michelangelo, DaVinci, Picasso. It was an
extensive, expensive collection.
They had one true friend. An old gardener who had been at the
manor since the father was a little boy.
Well, it just so happened that a war broke out, and the son was
called to active duty. During one particularly bitter battle,
the son was killed while saving the life of another soldier.
Some time later, the father received a visitor. The visitor
told him, "You don't know me, but I am the soldier your son was
saving when he was killed. He and I were good friends, and he
told me a lot of things about the two of you.
He told me all about your love of art and about your collection.
Now, I am by no means a great artist, but I can paint a little.
I wanted to do something for you in his memory, so I made a
painting of him for you."
The father graciously accepted the gift, and placed it in a
prominent place where he could see it all the time, to help him
remember.
In time, the father died. His will stipulated that the estate
be auctioned off, so on the appointed day, the auction was held.
The first item up for bid was the painting of the son.
"Give me a bid," said the auctioneer. "Let's start the
bidding at $100."
"Come on, who'll give me $100?"
The buyers were not pleased. "Get that junk out of here," they
said, "bring out the real art!"
The auctioneer persisted, despite their objections.
"Give me a bid.
Who bids $100?
Who'll give me $75?
How about $60?"
The whole time, the people protested. "Get rid of it! We want
to see the Picassos! The Rembrandts! That's why we're here!"
This went on for a while. Finally, someone said, "I'll give
you $3 for it." It was the gardener who had worked for the old
man and his son for as long as anyone could remember.
The auctioneer was encouraged.
All right, we have a bid! I hear $3, who'll make it 5?
"We don't want it!," they yelled. "Give it to him!"
"Let's go!"
The auctioneer said, "All right, $3, going once, twice-
SOLD!" Then, he put down his gavel, and said, "That
concludes the auction. Thank you all for coming."
Of course, the people were livid. "What do you mean? We never
even got to see the rest of the estate! How can it be over?"
The auctioneer said, "There was something I was not allowed to
tell you, until now. In his will, the old man stipulated that
the painting of his son had to be the first piece sold, and
whoever bought the painting would inherit the whole estate."
Author Unknown
Whoever accepts the son, gets the whole kingdom.
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