393- A Mattress That Killed its Owner

Problems started between Peter and his bride during the first week of their marriage. Relatives as well as priests tried to make peace but soon hostility was resumed. Peter accused his wife of being extravagent, not caring about their financial state. On the other hand, the wife was suffering from his miserliness since he deprived the family from the bare essentials, claming that he was poor.

Several years later, the wife left the house, went to her brother and asked not to return to her house since there was an argument over buying a new mattress. The brother tried to calm his sister but she gave him several examples of his miser behavior.

The brother asked, “where do you think he keeps his money? Does he put it in a bank?”

“He doesn’t trust banks with his money”, answered the sister.

“Does he help his parents?”

“No, he’s very miser with his parents. He doesn’t give them even gifts in the feasts or other occasions.”

“Does he spend his money over his friends?”

“He has no friends.”

“Then, where does he put his money?”

“I don’t know if he puts his money somewhere or that the blessings of God departed from him.”

The sister continued with her complaints. She said that her husband did not buy a single suit since the wedding. The mattress they sleep on was so bad that if thrown in the garbage nobody would pick it up. The brother continued to calm his sister, telling her to carry her cross.

She answered, “At least, he should buy us a new mattress. I can’t stand it.”

Her brother promised to buy her a mattress as a gift in the near future.

Two days later, Peter went away on a business trip. The brother brought a new mattress and his sister reluctantly accepted the gift. She tried to tidy up the house to make the new mattress visible so Peter would be happy for getting a free mattress.

She was wandering what to do with the old mattress. She heard the junk man calling and she asked him if he wanted to take the old mattress for nothing. He agreed to take it unwillingly since the mattress was not fit for human use.

The next day Peter came back to find his wife with a big smile on her face. He looked at the bed and asked, “Where is the old mattress?”

“I had great difficulty to convence the junk man to take it”, Said the wife.

As soon as Peter heard that, he screamed, “All my money has gone with that old mattress. I used to put all my money in this mattress.”

He dropped dead; he had a heart attack and his misery has killed him.

→ English translation of the story here at St-Takla.org: مرتبة تذبح صاحبها!

Lord, whoever keeps your commandment,

The Divine commandment will keep him.

But who keeps money, the money will kill him.

The Frog and the Pig

Short Stories (Stories for the Youth) Books by Father Tadros Yacoub Malaty

Gold Mines