Once upon a time, in a land quite removed from this place there lived a lonely old Duke. He had been considered a handsome youth, all his affairs were managed for him and he was known far and wide for his excellent parties and great company. He was also known for a knack he had of whistling complicated music and bird songs. It was always popular with his guests. They would say, "Do a poppinjay next!" Or "Oh, please, give us Chopin's mad cadenza!" One day he was met with financial straits. His looser acquaintances promptly quit his company. Not longer after them followed those he thought to be his close friends. Then went the servants. Finally his most trusted advisor told him he had better quit his apartments and find a paying job. So he ventured forth with the wind at his back and a song in his heart, for of course everything would be set aright in due time and his friends would realize their error. He began work as a clerk at a bank that had once been controlled by his family, until the takeover. The other clerks knew this and so did the bank president. They made his life difficult and hoped it would be unbearable so that he would leave them a broken man. They failed. He came in every morning whistling and left every evening, whistling just the same. Someone asked him one day how he could keep such a light heart having come down so far in the world. He only replied, "Things are bound to be set aright, you'll see. My friends will come for me." After his fellow worker shared this with his manager, they grew only more determined to press him so that he would never dare to think he was above them. They set him to the most menial jobs for the meanest pay, even though the young man was very bright and a hard worker. They constantly ran him down in front of customers and gave him the hours no one else would work. Still, he whistled every morning and he whistled every evening. He continually called at the houses of his former friends, but in his tatty clothes he could not even make it past the doorman. Still, he whistled every morning and he whistled every evening. He passed one compatriot in the street and shouted his greeting with joy. "Hullo, friend!" The man turned, sniffed loudly and determinedly pressed forward. Still he whistled every morning and he whistled every evening. He developed bad eyesight from working so many nights by candlelight. Still, he whistled every morning and he whistled every evening. If anyone ever questioned him about his life, he would say, "Things will be set aright, they'll come." This went on for many, many years. Soon the young Duke became the middle aged Duke, but he did not look so different from his former self. He was beat up and run down but still whistling every morning and whistling every evening. One morning his previous advisor, whom he had not seen since the ruin of his fortune, approached him by the front door of the bank. "Sir, do you remember me?" he asked hesitantly as if not sure he had the right man. The Duke smiled a great smile and said, "Of course, dear fellow! You are my most trusted advisor; you have served my family since my birth! How could I forget you?" The advisor proceeded to inform him that oil futures had picked up, the farms that had been ruined by blight were recovered and the merchant ship he had thought lost had literally come in. He was rich again and if some slight modification was made to his finances, he need never worry about losing money again. The advisor beamed and went to shake the Duke's hand. But the Duke had turned ashen during the retelling of his reclaimed inheritance. He fell to the street and began to sob, clutching at his chest. With alarm, the other man grasped the Duke's shoulder and asked him what was wrong. He coughed weakly and wailed, "They never came! They never came and now it's too late!" After some bed rest and plenty of tea, the Duke seemed well enough to be reinstated in his family home. As poor as he had looked before, he now looked a hundred times worse. His friends came around to visit and could not believe how much he had changed in the time they had not seen him. Very soon everyone who left had come back and more, in fact, triple of those who had originally been with him. They were all very kind and very considerate and very caring. The parties of yesteryear were resumed and if anything, were more frolicsome and extravagant than before. Nobody seemed to notice that the Duke was never in attendance. In the one moment, with the advisor, in front of the bank, he had become old. His life had withered once he had lost his one last hope. Every morning he rose and every evening he went back to his chambers with a broken heart. There was never to be any more whistling.
"Yes, it's all very sad. Now who wants ice cream?" >R<
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