Being Greedy Killed Juppo

[04.02.00] » by McDohl

Juppo was a great Trickster, as we all know. And in his mind he fought valiantly for the Liberation Army. The rest of us know he only did minor things, if anything at all. Well, after the war he left for the town of Kirov and built a great house for himself and Meg to live in with the money he "acquired" from the war. He had a happy life, and soon was known as Kirov’s town leader. He also got married to a wonderful lady. So wonderful no one in the town knew how he married her. But they were sure Juppo being a trickster did not get her to marry him with his looks and or charm. But that we will cover in another story, for now we will cover this part of his life. At any rate, his life was good. He had his riches, his fame, and his wife. He was always up to something. Usually they were things that involved making fools out of people to make himself look greater, he loved the feeling he was better than anyone. So it was no surprise he did anything and everything he could to make people notice him. This was his only flaw, and this is were our story begins..

One day Juppo was out for a walk and an old woman approached him. She gave him a magical power and told him in the future this power would make him famous. She told him when he said the magic words anyone who said the word "five" would drop dead. Juppo liked this very much, and went to a neighboring township that Kirov have had minor skirmishes with. He gathered 5 rocks and painted them gold and set them up in the middle of the road which led to town. He sat on top of the stone pile and waited for people to come. Eventually people started passing. Juppo judged them all with his keen eyes to see if they were wealthy. If they were, he would say "If you can count all my gold nuggets you can have them." All of them took the challenge. They wanted to make Juppo look foolish.

The first to come by was the Village Leaders Son. Juppo summoned his magic and challenged him. He accepted and began counting.. 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5- and he dropped dead. Juppo laughed with delight as he took all his money and hid his body. The next person to come by was the Village Leaders Body Guard. Juppo challenged him, and of course he accepted.. He began counting.. 1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. 5- and he too was dead. Juppo took his money as well and hid his body. The next person to come by was the Village Leaders Magician. The Magician knew Juppo was up to something, but he accepted his challenge anyway. The Magician began counting.

"1, 2, 3, 4, and the one you are sitting on Juppo, now give me the gold nuggets."

Juppo was stunned. "That is not the way you count, old Magician! Now count again!" Juppo was angry.

Again the Magician counted. "1.. 2.. 3.. 4.., and the one you are sitting on. Now give me the gold nuggets, it is getting dark and the Village Leader wants me back before dark."

"NO NO NO!" Juppo yelled. "Count them again!"

"1.. 2.. 3.. 4.. and the one you are sitting on Juppo. I tire of your games, give me the nuggets!"

Juppo was furious. He jumped off the pile and yelled at the Magician. "NO! This is how you count them! ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE..... ! EEGH...."

And with that Juppo dropped dead. The Magician laughed, thinking Juppo strained himself while counting and had dropped dead. Oh well thought the old Magician. He took Juppo’s money and headed back home, laughing all the way.

Yes, there is a moral to this story boys and girls. But you will have to figure it out by yourselves.. Here is a hint though..

THE MORAL IS NOT "Counting will kill" or "Don’t count to five."