Marapets Story: McDoogle's Farm

McDoogle's Farm

In the Gigantic Paradise, a long time ago, there stood a farm. On that farm lived a family of Knutts - a father with two sons. Although the father worked as hard as any other, he knew that soon he would be too old to carry on ploughing the fields or to manage the livestock, so he began to train his eldest son as an apprentice who would eventually inherit the farm, as he was the strongest and found it far easier to push the plough. The younger brother was neither strong, nor was he ever trained to tend the farm. However, he did not mind because he still had many friends there, and could easily look after the animals.

One day, however, the older brother began to boast about his strength and said the sooner he was in charge of the farm, the better, and the more profit he would make. The younger brother rose to his feet at this and claimed,

'This farm won't be any better, just because you're stronger!'

The two brothers began to argue heatedly and so their father came by. Seeing the passion in his younger son's eyes, the old Knutt smiled and insisted that he prove his point. If he could show that he was better suited to run the farm, then the younger son would inherit the farm.

And so, a competition was devised in the fields of the farm.

'Whomever can plough half of my wheat field the fastest,' said the old Knutt, 'will prove that they are the most suited to running my dear farm.'
As the competition began, the other farmhands and many of the animals came to watch, curious to see if such a small, weak Knutt would be able to beat his brother.

The eldest Knutt brother went first. With ease, he paced up and down his half of the wheat-field, steadily and swift, taking only thirty minutes to finish. Next was the younger Knutt. When his father told him to begin, instead of taking hold of the plough, the Knutt turned and ran to the edge of the field, where the other farmhands were watching.

'Please can you help me' He asked with a smile, 'if we all take a plough and take a line each, the field will be done in no time.'

The other farmhands were all happy to oblige, and once each had a plough to themselves, they marched together in a unified line along the field, with the young milk maid helping the Knutt with his plough. Although neither of the two was strong enough alone, together they could keep up with the burly farmworkers as they walked.

The ploughing took only eleven minutes, and so the father Knutt named his youngest son the winner. In anger, the eldest Knutt demanded that his brother had cheated. To this, the wise old Knutt smiled and stated,

'No, he did not cheat. McDoogle simply used his brain. He realised that the job could be done much more efficiently if he asked for help, instead of trying alone.'