The Two Gifts

By Philip Siddons

by Philip Siddons©

© This story is copyrighted. Reproduce this at your pleasure but not for resale purposes.
 For Brian & Pam’s 17th Anniversary

May you find this story to be a drawbridge

into the joyous castle of contentment in all

your relationships.
 long time ago, in the early days of England when Arthur and his court
ruled at Camelot, there was a kind young man named Jonathan. He
was an artist in the service of the court. Jonathan had created fanciful
works of art for the court and for his creations he was well respected.

That year, Jonathan had become engaged to

Anne of Avenforth, a fair maiden who was skilled
as an accountant and was also in service for the king
and queen. Anne lived in a castle in the next county
and their impending wedding was announced to the
delight of all.

One week before the wedding, Jonathan was

walking through the west wing of the castle intending to see the king. He had
recently been commissioned to sculpt a
rendering of Queen Guenevere’s summer
castle and wanted King Arthur to inspect
his plans. As he passed by a door in the
hallway, he heard a sigh from one of the
king’s scribes working at his desk.
Pausing to look in the door, Jonathan saw
Andrew standing by his printing device,
looking for something in the piles of
matter on his desk that might remedy his
problem.

Jonathan rarely saw Andrew because

of the diversity of their responsibilities.

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 He did remember seeing the printing devices the court’s scribes were using
and often marveled at their mechanisms.

“What’s the matter Master Andrew?” Jonathan said. “You look like you
have scribe’s block.”
“Oh hello, Master Jonathan,” Andrew responded with some fatigue in his
voice. “I have no patience with these machines. It seems that just when I am
about to produce a memorable speech for the king, this contraption seizes up
and I cannot print with it. Drat how I hate machines!”

Jonathan came over to the old scribe’s desk

and peered into the wooden and metal printing
instrument. With the patience of a physician
tending a wound, Jonathan carefully reached
into the machine and suddenly murmured
“Ah Ha!” Within a moment, Jonathan had
fixed the device.

“You have made my day” responded Andrew with relief. “I will be able to
finish the king’s work and have myself a weekend for a change.”

Jonathan started for the door and said over his shoulder, “It was nothing. I
have a gift for such things and it comes easily.”

Andrew, an older man with long graying hair and a beard, turned in his
chair and said, “Linger a moment, my friend. I understand you are soon to be
married. I would like to give you not only a present for your wedding but also
one for helping me out of the dungeon of my mechanical ineptitude. Have a seat
for a moment.”

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 Jonathan sat on a nearby chair. He was
starting to think that he might miss the King
and he was eager to ask about his sculpture. He
saw a chart of the stars on the far wall,
remembering he had heard that one of the
king’s scribes was a sorcerer. He had little
interest in sorcerers’ potions and spells and
generally regarded such wizards to be strange and more clever than they ought
to be.
Andrew looked across his desk at Jonathan and
continued. “Few people know this,” he said, “but it is
within my power to command spells unavailable to
ordinary magicians. Under the condition that you tell
no one of this conversation, I am offering you two
wishes of your choice.
“Most people, when granted their wishes, make
the same mistake. They believe paradise to be simply
what they don’t already have. So choose your two desires and they shall be
yours. You may see me tomorrow to state your requests but be sure to choose
wisely and you will live to cherish your decisions.”

There was something about the evenness of Andrew’s voice and his steady
gaze that brought a mixture of both fear and amusement to Jonathan.

Yet Jonathan thanked him and he awkwardly left the room, promising to
return the next day. He walked back down the castle hallway, forgetting his
intention to speak with the King about his sculpture plans.

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 “Any two wishes I desire,
Hmm!” Jonathan mused. “I
suppose I should ask for gold,
so that Anne and I would be
wealthy enough to have our
own estate. Or perhaps I should
ask to become a knight,” he
thought, “so that Anne would
be proud of me and my family
would be honored.”

“I know,” Jonathan thought after some pause, “I should ask for the ability to
create the finest sculpture in Camelot so that there would be none like it in the
entire kingdom.” So for the rest of the evening and throughout the night,
Jonathan struggled with his decision. It even occurred to him to ask for ten
wishes of equal worth so that he could have anything he wanted. Jonathan soon
concluded, however, that requesting more wishes would be greedy and so he
cast the idea aside. But were these things merely what he didn’t now possess –
as the sorcerer had suggested?

The next day Jonathan sat before Andrew and had come no further in his
decision making than he was the day before. But the words of the sorcerer came
to him again: “Choose wisely ...” and Jonathan realized what he wanted.

Andrew said to him: “What is it that you wish for your first gift, my
friend?”

Jonathan looked pensively responded, “I have thought of half the treasures

in the kingdom. Yet I have already been given skills enabling me to
comfortably earn a living. As I am fortunate enough to marry Anne, I expect I’ll

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be the happiest man in the kingdom.” Then fully looking at the aging scribe,
Jonathan continued: “What I would like, Sir Andrew, is something you advised
me to use: wisdom. I would like wisdom.”

Andrew leaned back in his chair with a dawning look

of triumph and glee on his face. “Fantastic!” he called
out, never taking his eyes off Jonathan.

The sorcerer stood up, putting his arms on Jonathan’s

shoulders, saying: “In all of my years of magic, I have
never had the privilege of granting a better gift.” Andrew swept his hand
majestically in the air before Jonathan and said, “Be it as you have so desired.”

For a moment, Jonathan felt a tingling sensation throughout his entire body
and then a warm feeling of contentment came to him.

“And what is your second request?” Andrew asked as he sat back down in
his chair.

Jonathan thought for a moment and then he said: “I am about to join my life
with my love, Anne. If a gift has been granted for me, it seems only fitting to
request a gift for her.”

“And what is the gift you request for your Anne?” Andrew
said with intense curiosity.

Jonathan paused again and started to say something but

stopped himself. “I suppose wealth or plenty of healthy children
or even nobility in the court would be welcomed. But there is
something within me that says she would know best what she
wants. I think I’ll ask her what she desires.”

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 Andrew responded, leaning back in his chair, “Your wisdom is already
becoming you. Seek her pleasure and return to me tomorrow with your
answer.”

Soon Jonathan left, bowing to thank the sorcerer for his first gift.
On his way to the village of Avenforth,
Jonathan wondered what Anne would
request. “Perhaps she will want to marry
someone else – a nobleman or one of the
kings champions?” he thought to himself.
“Or perhaps she will want wealth and
finally scorn me for not asking for it in
the first place?” And the more Jonathan wondered what Anne would request,
the more he began to worry that she might demand something that would be
difficult to acquire, even for the sorcerer scribe.

Jonathan spent the day with Anne but was afraid to ask her what she wanted
most. He feared accidentally telling her a sorcerer had granted him requests.
This, he knew, would violate the agreement to tell no one of the magic. So as
the day wore on, they talked about everything else but what
Jonathan had on his mind.

That evening, Jonathan and Anne sat beside a window

overlooking a courtyard below. They saw children playing
but there was a small disturbance.

One of the boys below was pretending to be a knight and

was holding a wooden sword. He was commanding one of
the girls to return to his castle to fix him a feast in honor of
his slaying a mighty dragon.

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 The girl said, “I want to go out and kill the other dragon. Then we can both
feast.”

But the boy quickly responded, “I am the king of the castle. It is I who gives
the orders.”

Immediately the children began arguing. Fortunately they were soon called
in by their parents for dinner and they were gone.

Anne said with a sigh, “It is too bad that adults are much like children.”

Jonathan, not paying much attention because he was lost in his thought
about how to ask his question, grunted and responded, “You’re right, my dear.”
But suddenly he took heart and asked: “Anne, my love, if you were granted one
wish by a sorcerer, what would be your request?”

“Why to be with you, my love” Anne said as she looked into his eyes with
affection.

“No, ... well, yes, you already have that, ... but
besides that, . . . what would you ask for above all
things? What would be your greatest desire?”
Jonathan persisted.

Anne sat pensively for a while as she looked

out on the evening’s sunset. She thought about her
fortune in marrying Jonathan, for he was a kind
and gentle man. Anne felt that her own life had
been enriched by her friends and her activities.
She realized that they were living in good times
and were blessed with more than she could have
imagined.

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 As had Jonathan, Anne considered wealth. She also
thought of becoming a lady of the court. But then she
remembered the children. She remembered the adults.
And with a playful but confident look on her face, she
turned to Jonathan with her answer and said, “I would
like to be treated as your equal, so that if one eye cries, so will both.”

Jonathan was amazed at the request and pondered it for some time. If
granted, it would mean a life different for them than that of their friends and
those in court. And while their conversation turned to other things that evening,
when he left, Jonathan continued to reflect on his loved one’s wish.

On the following morning, Jonathan went

to the scribe’s office. He had not slept a wink
during the night. He was afraid that if this
unusual wish were granted, his life would be
upset. There would be no order to their
relationship. How would things be decided?
Would not everything be thrown into complete
chaos?

It crossed Jonathan’s mind that he could tell the sorcerer that Anne had
asked for gold. That way, they would be rich and she would never know she
could have had something else.

When Jonathan was sitting before the sorcerer, he was about to request gold
but he suddenly felt compelled to change his course. He said to Andrew, “Anne
would like most of all that she be treated as my equal.”

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 Andrew’s eyes opened wider and a look of great interest spread across his
face. He asked, with what sounded like amusement in his voice, “And how do
you feel about that wish Master Jonathan?”

Jonathan said, “Well, I suppose that just as I had my wish, she certainly is
entitled to her own. And it seems fair. It’s not as if she is asking for more power
than mine. But tradition has it, . . . ” Jonathan paused, “that I am to be in charge,
to make the decisions and to have the final say. Isn’t that what being a man is
about?”

“Before I answer that question, you must state your second wish” said the
scribe. “You must decide now what you want for your second gift.”

Jonathan sat in silence for a moment and said: “Then I wish Anne will be
treated as my equal, for I love her with all my heart, although I fail to
understand the practicality of her wish.”

Andrew slowly stood up and waved his hand, as he had before, and the wish
was granted.

“Now tell me the answer to my question, if you will, sir. How is it that we
will be able to go about making decisions for our lives?” Jonathan pleaded.

The old sorcerer slowly walked from

his desk over to a nearby window and
looked out. “I have seen the splendor of
the king’s court. I have seen how the
wealthiest and the most powerful in the
land have acquired riches beyond belief.
I have seen persons of beauty captivate
the hearts of the humble and the proud, the powerful and those of low estate.

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I have seen royalty end in rags, nobility fall to dishonor. But there is one beauty
in life that rises above all else.”

The scribe wandered back to Jonathan and placed his hand on his shoulder.
“When you decided to give up your power to choose the second gift, you were
yielding to the voice of your wisdom and your love for Anne. You were
allowing her the same privilege of choice that you had – allowing her to choose
a wise or a foolish thing. You were giving up control.

“As your days turn into years with

her, you will find that neither of you will
rule your home. Instead, decisions will
be made by discussion and compromise.
Each choice will be influenced most by
the one who has more experience, more
passion or more interest in the subject.
One of you will be more influential in
some decisions while in other matters,
the other will have greater influence. Decisions will not be made by role or
tradition. It will be in the magic of this equality that you both will experience a
beauty and contentment worth more than all of the king’s gold.”

At the end of the week, on a beautiful

Spring day in May, Jonathan and Anne were
married in the royal chapel. In the coming
years, they were blessed with healthy and
cheerful children. Their years together
brought the beauty and the contentment the
scribe had predicted.

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 As they grew old together, they took
comfort in the fact that the two gifts they had
been given, at their marriage, were passed on to
their children and their children’s children. And
they lived happily together in the good times
and in the bad times. As one of them cried in
joy or sorrow, so did the other.

This story is available in PDF format at: http://www.FlyByNightPublishing.com/PDF/000305tx.pdf