The more he talked the less
he decided to charge. We waited quietly." The gardener smiled.
"His charges dropped?"
"His charges dropped!"
"Still we waited! Aha! Finally he agreed that it was all ours,
if we would give him just one bottle of wine and agree to move
everything within 3 days! Oh, he was a cute rascal! We just
outwitted him. Yes, eventually, he came our way. Merely a matter
of waiting." The gardener's smile broadened.
"Yes," Zeus mused. "A cute rascal, indeed!"
"So, this callow youth, this dunce from the barnyards,
practically gave away his, eh, merchandise?"
"And did you, eh, move all this fertilizer? Within 3 days?"
"Oh, yes, sire. Indeed we did. We didn't want to give him the
chance of changing his mind. I had to call on all the Gods -
save yourself, Sire - to get the job done. Such dedication. Even
Hera carried her share. Lovely wife, Sire, lovely!"
The gardener smiled. Zeus nodded somewhat glumly.
"And we gave him 5 bottles of wine to insure he gave no further
thought to the fertilizer or the stables."
"What! What is this! Stables! Did you say Stables!" Zeus brow
was dark, and the clouds above Olympus now roiled and flashes of
lighting lit the dour sky.
"Why, yes, sire. It seems that, through negligence, the stables
had not been cleaned in - well, in a long time. One might say
they were a bit ripe."
"And the horses! Poor things! They were indeed in need of
washing and curry-combing.
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