Paying the Rent - Irish Folktale

On the island of Ireland, located in the western part of Europe, among its lush green hills once lived peasants who had a great love of their land and were resentful to pay high rents to selfish English landlords, who lived lavishly. Failure to pay the rent meant families were driven out of their homes, while their thatched mud-walled hovels were leveled to the ground. For many families in the 19^th century, the only thing that saved them from eviction was the arrival of money from America. The Irish Potato Famine of the 19^th century caused a massive immigration to the US. Those who left in Ireland were awaiting money from America from the relatives.

Crohan O’Sullivan as a child had heard stories of the Great Famine when the potato crop failed and many people starved to death. Now his mind was filled with worry as his family had fallen on hard times.

As March approached, he found his supply of potatoes running short. The following month, he realized that he wouldn’t be able to pay the next month rent. He was forced to contact his older brother who emigrated to New York ten years earlier.

When the third week of April was nearing the end and Crohan and his wife Mary had not heard back from his brother, they started fearing the worst.

In the last week of April, as Crohan was working in the woods catching rabbits, he heard postman calling his name, “A letter for you, from America.”

Within seconds Crohan snatched the letter from the postman and opened it. There it was, one hundred dollars inside. Tears welled up in his eyes. He put the money back inside the envelope, which he carefully folded and put inside his tattered waistcoat. He laid the waistcoat beside a dead rabbit on the ground. He had one more task to perform. He rushed to cut some twigs for the fire to roast the rabbit.

While he reached to cut the first twig with his penknife, a giant eagle swooped low and snatched the dead rabbit.

Crohan rushed after the eagle to see that the bird snatched not only the rabbit but also his waistcoat, which somehow got entangled in its claws. His shouts of panic echoed in the valley as the eagle flew out of sight over the hills. He shed many tears on his way home. And many more while telling the story to his wife.

Soon word of Crohan’s misfortune spread among the neighbors. Even the parish priest talked about it from the pulpit at Mass. When the story reached a sheep farmer living in a remote mountain glen, he rushed to the distraught Crohan family. “I saw an eagle flying to its nest on a high cliff with a piece of clothing it its claws, but I couldn’t tell for sure from distance whether or not it was a waistcoat.”

The same afternoon several neighbors gathered with Crohan on the top of a steep cliff. The men lowered Crohan in a wicker basket slowly releasing ropes attached to basket. With his pike, he steered the basket toward the huge nest containing seven large eggs. Right there in a clump of ferns directly beneath the nest, he spotted his waistcoat. He snagged the waistcoat with his pike and shouted at the men to pull him up.

As soon as Crohan was standing at the top of the cliff he looked for the envelope in his waistcoat. And there it was, one hundred dollars. A smile appeared on his face dotted with tears in his eyes out of joy.

The men patted Crohan on both shoulders. “You got it back.”

“Thank you my dear friends for your help,” responded Crohan.

“What are friends for,” cheered the men.

From that day forward, Crohan and his family prospered, and never again had difficulty with paying rent.

Later that week, he wrote back to his brother, thanking for his generosity and telling him the story. With time, the regular correspondence brought both brothers very close.

 

Source: The King with Horse’s Ears and Other Irish Folktales by Batt Burns