Section 1
Once upon a time, a vagabond was wandering through a forest, slowly making his way. The vast distance between the houses made it unlikely for him to find a place of refuge before nightfall arrived. Unexpectedly, he caught sight of flickering lights amidst the trees. To his delight, he stumbled upon a cozy cottage with a warm fire crackling in the hearth. The mere thought of basking in front of the fire and satisfying his hunger with a morsel enticed him, compelling him to make his way towards the cottage with great effort.
At that very moment, an elderly woman approached him.
"Good evening, and greetings!" uttered the vagabond.
"Good evening," replied the woman. "Where do you hail from?"
"South of the sun, and east of the moon," responded the tramp. "And presently, I am making my way back home, having journeyed throughout the world, save for this particular parish," he explained.
"You must be quite the seasoned traveler," remarked the woman. "What brings you to this place?"
"Oh, I am in need of a place to stay for the night," he expressed.
"I suspected as much," replied the woman. "However, you should leave immediately, for my husband is not present, and my humble abode is not an inn," she stated.
"My kind-hearted woman," pleaded the tramp, "please do not be so stern and unsympathetic. We are both human beings, bound to assist and support each other as it is written."
"Help each other?" scoffed the woman. "Help? Have you ever heard such a notion? Who do you think will help me? I don't have even a crumb in the house! No, you'll have to seek accommodations elsewhere," she firmly stated
However, the tramp, like others of his kind, was not easily deterred by initial rejection. Despite the old woman's grumbling and complaining, he remained unwavering in his persistence. He continued to beg and plead, resembling a famished dog, until eventually, the woman relented. He was granted permission to rest on the floor for the night.
He considered her gesture to be extremely generous, and he expressed his gratitude for it. "This tramp," who was always cheerful and had a knack for rhyming, remarked, "I'd rather sleep on the floor than endure the freezing cold of the deep forest."
Upon entering the room, he quickly realized that the woman's condition wasn't as dire as she had portrayed, however, she was an excessively selfish and miserly individual, always prone to incessant whining and grumbling.
In an effort to be pleasant, he charmingly requested some food from her.
"Where do you expect me to get it?" replied the woman. "I haven't had a single bite myself all day."
However, the tramp was quite crafty in his ways.
"Oh, dear granny, it appears you must be famished," he remarked. "Very well, I guess I'll have to insist that you join me for a meal, then."
"Share a meal with you?" scoffed the woman. "You don't seem capable of offering anything! What could you possibly have to offer, I wonder?"
"The one who wanders far and wide encounters unfamiliar sights; and the one who witnesses many things possesses sharp wit and keen senses," declared the tramp. "It's better to be dead than to lose one's mind! Could you kindly lend me a pot, dear granny?"
Naturally, the old woman grew quite curious and, as you might imagine, she decided to lend him a pot.
He filled the pot with water, placed it over the fire, and blew with all his might until the flames blazed intensely around it. Then, he took a four-inch nail from his pocket, turned it in his hand three times, and dropped it into the pot.
The woman stared intently, completely puzzled.
"What on earth is this going to turn into?" she asked.
"It's nail broth," replied the tramp, as he started stirring the water with a wooden spoon.
"Nail broth?" questioned the woman in disbelief.
"Yes, nail broth," reaffirmed the tramp.
The old woman had witnessed and experienced many things throughout her life, but the notion of making broth with a nail was entirely new to her, she had never come across anything quite like it before.
"That's knowledge for the destitute," she remarked, "and I would be interested in learning how to make it."
"That which holds little value will always be overlooked," replied the tramp.
