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Neither a Borrower nor Lender be
Knowing Bjorn had amassed a large fortune through the centuries of travel, Karl was going to ask him for a loan for the weekend to travel the stage road from Philadelphia to Clamtown and frequent the Troll taverns hidden behind the regular inns to carouse and drop an active, wanton eye on many. Per say, to gamble what remains to pay him back. Most likely, he would want more than he needed since, inevitably, Gramps was going to tag along.
Also, I was coming to ask for a loan to pay William Hurry for the extra pasture up on Halfmoon Hill I mortgaged from him. I could pay him in a week's time, but a loan would alleviate the stress. So I was hoping to get to Bjorn first, which proved true.
"Hello, Jonathan," Bjorn said as he gave me a hug,"how does the world treat you today?"
"Fine old friend, and yourself!"
"Fabulous, let's have some tea."
He brewed gunpowder tea in the fashion of the citizens of Darkkar, which entailed brewing the loose leaf tea in a teapot filled with copious amounts of sugar and pouring the mixture into three small cups every fifteen minutes to evaporate the liquids from the oils, then pouring it back into the pot to be drunk after the third round. I sat back into his stump chair and started off our conversation. We were talking about the finer points of Buddha's eight pillars of wisdom when Karl barged in a hurry.
"Bjorn, I need a loan of a hundred gold sovereigns for the weekend," Karl asked. "Your father and myself are going up the road a pace."
"OK, my bag has a little over a hundred in it," Bjorn said, passing it to him.
"Thank you; you do know how your father drinks..." In fact, it was hard to get Gramps drunk. If you watched him carefully, the more he drank, the taller he got, and his fat content increased as it ingested the alcohol.
I thought my case would've been in good reception now if he hadn't blink, giving him his purse for such frivolity. So before I left after a pleasant time late in the night, I asked.
"Sorry, I cannot," answered Bjorn.
"How so, when you gave so easily to Karl for his vices?" I asked, feeling a little sore and letting the time of night affect my response.
"His and my father's needs are greater than your debt," Bjorn answered. "They have expensive vices. You live well within your means and work hard, the Universe takes care of you. You will find your way, but those two are lost souls. If the Universe doesn't take care of them, who will?"
I left a little dejected, but shining in the moonlight on a birch was enough lions mane mushrooms to pay a few months of Hurry's mortgage and get a dinner at Peggy's Tavern.
Good thing Bjorn suggested taking this trail instead of my usual path.
