Humility - Katrina and the Noble
"Tell us a story, Gramma!" the little boy demands and hops on the left leg of the old woman who pats his hair with a proud smile on her face. "Yes, Gramma, tell us a story!" A little girl with light blonde buns hops on the other leg. For a moment the old woman is sure to hear her bones crack, yet she smiles and strokes the cheek of the girl. What wonderful children! Her grandchildren! For a moment she thinks about which story she could tell them. Eventually she tries to gently move into a more comfortable position, and says: "But only one today! Then it is bed time for you two!" The children nod with glaring eyes, eager for another tale of their grandmother. "Well then, my darlings, I will tell you a tale about the virtue Humility. I will tell you the tale of Katrina and the Noble."
Katrina was a sheperdess, and as far as she was concerned her profession provided a complete description with further need of qualification. Of course she was a beautiful woman, and the beauty of her mind could easily compete with the one of her body. She was wise and friendly, and held with respect of both her peers and those above her station. All this, however, had only very little relevance for Katrina. In her opinion - and after all this was what counted - Katrina was Katrina. Katrina was a sheperdess and she tended her sheep.
As Katrina was not wealthy the sheep she tended were not her own property, but belonged to a rich noble of the city of Magincia. She was not paid with coin and she did not mind that after all, but in exchange for her services the noble provided her with a sturdy hut she kept scrupulously clean and a regular allotment of both mutton and wool, which she could either reserve for her own use or sell it on the marketplace.
Now, even young people like you two have heard of the old Magincian nobility, storied as they were for their opulence and splendor. Magincians are rich, but if you allow me to say it - they are also lazy and spoiled, addicted to enlarge their wealth and show off their mundane posession. Keeping this in mind you can easily guess that no citizen of Magincia would ever condescend to lay a hand on an actual breathing sheep, though they would willingly enough sit down to a hot mutton chop while wearing a fine wool tunic. So Katrina was engaged to do the "dirty" work for this certain noble, to tend the sheep and see to the unpleasnat necessities of flock's managment, and she faithfully delivered up to her master the profits of his investement, but her labour.
Katrina in the meantime was happy with what she was doing and not ever a word of complaint was heard from her lips. But as fortune wants one day another noble, and acquaintance of Katrina's patron, had fallen upon hard times and saw his family fortune wiped out. Now, this certainly was partly his own fault and a result of bad investement and living over his own conditions too long, but on the other hand - and we all know that - it was just ill luck. So this poor fellow resolved to go to his friend and trade his last and greatest family heirloom for half of Katrina's flock. Now this heirloom was an emerald of unmatched size and luster, coloured in a deep green and I am sure that the man had a hard time to part from such a precious treasure. Still, the necessity was there and such a purchase should be sufficient to provide both a present income, and the promise of future increase.
So it happened that the unlucky noble brought the emerald to Katrina's master, who was eager to make this trade, well aware that owning such a great object would bring honour to his house. He could picture the applause and desiring looks of his neighbours and friends, and the cool, greenish shine of the jewel fascinated him and even more his greedy heart. So the two nobles went out together to divide the flock. As no right-minded noble would ever risk treading in sheep's soil, at least not if he was a Magincian, they ascended a platform built for that purpose and began to seperate the sheep. Katrina in the meantime ran left and right, shooing the sheep in the one or other direction, following the commands of the two nobles.
Of course both of the two men were eager to make the best deal possible, which at the same time meant the worst deal for the other one, and so it came that at a certain point the bargaining grew heated, and the purchasing noble drew his emerald out of his pouch, and began to praise its flawlessness and purity, its shine and size, in an attempt to cajole the other to accede to his wishes. But the fellow's unfortunate luck held true, and while he gestured about the jewel flew from his hands down to the floor of the sheepfold, where a half grown lamp promptly devoured the shiny thing.
Katrina stayed calm although she feared that the two nobles would be more than angry now, and so she apologized profusely for this indignity, well aware that the happenings were not her fault at all. With a slight smile on her lips - and indeed the scene must have been a rather funny one - she assured the men that there would be no cause to supsend their dealings. "I shall watch this imp most carefully", she directed at her master. "And when the jewel reappears - as it must in a day or two - I shall clean it scrupulously and deliver it up to you myself."
The nobles, however, were both horrified at the thought of their precious treasure undergoing such an indignity. They gestured about and while they did so their heads went red, and noisily they discussed that this plan certainly was not good enough at all, that it was doomed to fail and that the emerald certainly was lost now.
After listening to them a while Katrina decided that what was enough was enough, and so she said: "So be it. If that's your preference I will slaughter the beast today - this very hour - and we'll have the jewel back in your hands presently, though it seems a shame, for I had wanted this lamb as a ram, rather than for mutton."
For a moment the nobles were torn by the desire of getting back the emerald and the unwillingness to slaughter a lamb that could prove very valuable in the future. After another discussion, though, both of them agreed that this was an unacceptable pollution, and so eventually the men decided that there was nothing for it but to regard the disgraced gem as forever lost to the Magincian society. The poor, unlucky noble returned home, now totally ruined and sad, but secure in the knowledge that his dignity remained intact.
Katrina in the meantime who had learned the folly of trying to ascribe sense to the requirements of a Magincian's lordly Pride, bedded her sheep for the night. The impertinent young ram, though, she brought to a special stall and there she watched him most carefully. In due time the course of nature was accomplished, and the gem reappeared into the daylight. Being used to happenings like this Katrina did not hesitate to pick up the precious jewel with a spade, and after she had vigorously washed the gem with good, clean water there was no sign of the journey the heirloom unwantingly made left. Then she took the emerald which still was an enchanting sight and took it to the harbour, where she found and honest merchant who cared nothing about the history of the jewel but only for it's size and luster, and he gladly paid her a most goodly prize for it. Now, all of a sudden, Katrina was a richest sheperdess ever seen in the lands of Britannia, though she only spent very little of the money she had earned due to a well-meaning fate on her own practical comforts. Parts of the money were donated to the persons in need, but the hugest amount she put away against mischance or infirmity. And so it came to pass that in her Humility she became the most honoured and prosperous sheperd in the whole city.
The lamb that had caused the whole desaster, though, indeed grew up to be a fine ram and reigned over the flock for uncounted years. He thought himself a very lordly figure, I'll wager, for all that he never knew that he had been, for a time, the richest sheep in all Magincia.
The ruined noble was soon forced to sell his mansion to pay his debts and seek the charity of kindfolk, where he received all the affection that is rightly due to a poor relation steeped in self pity. Today his honoured name, which he would not besmirch with an honestly soiled fortune, is not remembered by anyone. The story of Katrina, though, lives on and her Humility still is an example for us Britannians. In the end, I am sure you see it now, it is Humility that prevails Pride, and Pride, in a longer period of time, will only cause you loss and pain, while Humility will make you rich, although not necessarily in a way as it happened to Katrina, the sheperdess.
