It was not such a good bargain after all

Jim was a young farmhand looking for a small farm. He had saved a little money and Lucy too had some of her own. They wanted to get married and were keen on a home of their own. But what they had was just enough for a down payment for a small farm. One day. when Jim was silently eating his lunch during the break, one of his co-workers approached him and told him that a farm was on sale some forty miles from where he was. He believed that the price the owner was asking was reasonable. The previous owner, a rich old miser, had died and his young nephew who had inherited the farm was not interested in working on it. He was an urbanite through and through and knew nothing about soil or plants.

There was enough cause for Jim to feel hopeful about it and he decided to take a day off and go and see the farm. He made the journey by bus and then walked the last mile or so. His first feeling was one of disappointment. The farm appeared to be shabby and forlorn with the chimneys lying smokeless and quiet. The unkempt look, the wild growth – all conspired to put him off. But then he remembered his limited funds and Lucy who had waited patiently all these past months. He also remembered his long, unending search for a farm, and, thinking of all these, he approached the farm.

The caretaker responded slowly to his knock and then grudgingly took him round. The farmhouse was small with a room and a big kitchen downstairs and two rooms upstairs.

The doors and windows were hard to close and there were signs of disuse everywhere. The farm was also not very big and there was only one shed to house the animals.

Jim was a sad man that evening, but he still decided to go and see the agent. Imagine his joy when he realized that the price being quoted was even less than what he had thought it to be. He could keep clear of debt. He could make the complete payment. So he began to think about it and was soon convinced that this was a stroke of luck. He decided to buy the farm.

Soon Jim and Lucy were married and settled on the farm. One could not say ‘snugly’ for there much work to be done on the farm before it could be called either decent or dean. It was a long way from becoming a home. They both worked hard. While Jim cleaned the ground and plowed the fields and repaired the shed Lucy cleaned and scrubbed the floors, hung up cheerful bright colored curtains, looked after a kitchen garden, and tended the young lambs.

But a story that had begun so well, did not end so. The farm was on a hillside and the young saplings would crumble before the onslaught of a wind storm. The soil was not very good and did not respond to Jim’s coaxing touch. The lambs died in an epidemic. Year after year the young couple struggled to recover from their disappointments. They borrowed money to buy fresh stock and they kept on hoping for better days. More than two years had passed and still, there was no improvement. They had a young baby to look after now. Jim was a tired man after four years of waiting. He decided to give it up. It was not such a good bargain after all!