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Two Mysteries

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Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Sep 26, 1911

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 38, No. 38.

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Two Mysteries

ONCE upon a time Frederick, king of Prussia, when taking a ride, noticed an old farmer plowing his acre by the wayside, and cheerfully singing at his work.
"You must be well off, old man," said the king. "Does this acre belong to you?"
"No, sir," replied the farmer, who knew not it was the king. "I am not so rich as that; I plow for wages."
"How much do you get a day?"
"Eight groschen" (about a shilling), said the farmer.
"That is not much," replied the king. "Can you get along on it?"
"Get along and have something left."
"How is that?"
"Well, if I must tell you — two groschen are for myself and wife; with two I pay my old debts; two I lend out; and two I give away for the Lord's sake."
"This is a mystery which I can not solve," said the king.
"Then I will solve it for you," said the farmer. "I have two old parents at home who kept me when I was weak and needed help; and now that they are weak and need help, I keep them. This is my debt toward which I pay two groschen a day. The third pair of groschen which I lend out I spend for my children, that they may receive Christian instruction. They will pay it back in the comfort they will be to me and my wife when we get old. With the last two groschen I maintain two sisters, whom I could not be compelled to keep. This is what I give for the Lord's sake."
"Bravely spoken, old man," said the king. "Now I will also give you something to guess. Have you ever seen me before?"
"Never," said the farmer.
"In less than five minutes you shall see me fifty times, and carry in your pocket fifty of my likenesses."
"This is a mystery which I can not unravel," said the farmer.
"Then I will solve it for you," said the king. Thrusting his hand into his pocket and counting fifty brand-new gold pieces into his hand, stamped with his royal likeness, he said to the astonished farmer: "This coin is genuine, for it also comes from our Lord God, and I am His paymaster. I bid you adieu." — The Continent.