The Miserly Landlord.

The Miserly Landlord.

Once upon a time there was a very wealthy landlord that lived in the west of Ireland. He was extremely miserable because he was always watching his money fearing that everyone was plotting ways to take it from him.  He had hundreds of thousands of pounds although today he would count his money in euros, ask him to spend a pound and he would go into a rage.

He had no friends because he thought that having friends cost money but those who knew him suggested that if he took himself a bride he would at least have some company.  He thought about it for at least ten seconds and quickly decided that a wife would expect some housekeeping money and this caused him to begin to shake all over.  He just as quickly decided that it would be a lot cheaper to remain a bachelor for the rest of his life as he did not want to share any of his money with anyone else.

He had no family, at least none that would admit to knowing such a miserly old skinflint.  However, the landlord did have at least one luxury that he believed was necessary, a servant.  He paid him very little and expected him to do all the cleaning, cooking, laundry and every other job he could think of. This left the landlord free to squeeze every last penny out of his tenants and to go about his business of evicting those who couldn’t pay their rent on time. It was obvious to all concerned that although he did not like spending money he could not manage without his servant.

Years passed and the landlord grew older, eventually he became ill as he would not spend money on fuel and the cold damp winters that we know so well in the west of Ireland began to affect him.  He said to his servant “I’ve looked after you all your life now you have to look after me; I need you to answer a question, how sick do you think I am”? The servant told the landlord that he thought he was very sick and should call for the doctor.  The landlord thought about this for about ten seconds then said “If I call for the doctor he will charge me a fee, but if I don’t call for him people will say I am a stupid man worried about money when I could be dying”.  The servant told the landlord that he believed he was so sick that he could indeed be dying and that he should call the doctor straight away.  The landlord replied “If I’m that bad then I have a suggestion to make.  Go to the undertaker and ask him what his fee will be when I die, then go to the doctor and ask him what his fee will be to treat me”. 

The servant did as he was told, the undertaker told him that his lowest fee was €110; he then went to the doctor who said his lowest fee would be €150.  The servant returned to the landlord and told him what he had learned, the miserly landlord quickly made a decision saying to the servant “Well the best thing to do is you must take me to the undertaker for the doctor’s cure is far too expensive”.  The skinflint of a landlord wouldn’t spend the extra forty euro’s to cure his illness and he died shortly afterwards.  The servant paid the undertaker his €110 fee and as the landlord had no relatives, or none that came forward to claim his riches, all the rest of his money went to his long suffering servant.

The landlord’s attachment to his money was the thing that killed him in the end because he chose the undertaker over the doctor.  By choosing the cheaper option he hoped to save a few euros’ little realising that once he died he would lose all his money anyway. He would now be remembered as a tight fisted skinflint, a miser who thought of no one but himself.  Had he given just a little of his wealth to a charity or some good cause, had he thought of others instead of grasping at pennies he would have been remembered fondly by all those he could have helped. 

In the end he couldn’t take it with him, the servant became a millionaire overnight. Will he believe that others will exploit him for his money or will he choose to use his new found wealth for good? Some people say that money is like manure; it can only do well if it’s spread around helping things to grow. 

In many ways this could have been the landlord’s legacy, his path to immortality.  Instead he will simply be remembered as a selfish little man. I wonder which path the servant will choose. I wonder which path you would choose.