K CRISIS IN A FAIRYTALE
By Spiros Seretidis
Marlow Continental was a nobleman and a great English landowner. He lived in London, England and was married to economist Dragal Coin. Together they raised three children Lekrem, Naksaurts and Yzokras. Despite the companies he owned in England were going very well, the fields that had been scattered in various countries of Europe were left for too long untapped.
One afternoon the family Continental was having dinner in the living room and soon the discussion of the large and untapped land took over.
‘It's a pity that such large pieces of land remain unexploited!’ said the daughter, Lekrem.
‘Lekrem, as you are a good accountant, what do you recommend me to do?’ asked her father, Mr. Marlow.
‘I will tell you what to do’, said Marlow’s wife Mrs. Dragal. ‘You will give them to farmers which they will sow!’ she continued.
‘That’ s right!’ agreed Naksaurts and Yzokras, twin sons of Marlow.
‘Everybody knows how much I want this but most land areas are located outside of England, far away. I can’ t inspect closely the work of farmers, neither I can see how they sow and exploit them.’ Marlow replied.
‘Dad, most fields are strewn with olive groves, they have fertile fruits so we dont have to sow something. They are all ready. Farmers will oversee them, and will work hard for the harvest "noted Lekrem.
‘Fine! Fine!’ Marlow shouted fiercely. ‘Tomorrow from my office I am going to call farmers from several countries in Europe where our fields are located. We are going to start cooperation! " uttered happily.
Mr. Marlow began to call farmers from twenty-seven countries in Europe at his office in central London. Their appearance made not only farmers but also breeders who wanted to rent out Marlow’ s fields so they could build within these stables and put in sheep, goats and other animals.
Soon the news spread all over Europe. The fact that the great squire Marlow Continental rents large expanses of land, caused social disturbance in the European market. Marlow’ s chubby daughter, Ms. Lekrem, was there to coordinate and arrange the economics of the fields as she was a great accountant, while the twin sons Naksaurts and Yzokras supervised the negotiations. Everything was fine. English, French, Portuguese and German farmers of the continent visited the office of noble Marlow. The fields of the large landowner Marlow Kontinental were blown away. Within two days the rental of the fields was closed. The fields of the large landowner Marlow Continental were blown away rapidly. Within two days the rental of the fields was closed.
The spirits had now calmed. The Continental family rejoiced that they would get part of the revenue from the crops finally. As Marlow’ s family was discussing cheerful, the office's bell rang loudly and Lekrem opened the door confused. There was a farmer from Greece, Barba – Costas, standing at the entrance. He was the last asking to rent out the large piece of land in Greece.
‘I am sorry for the inconvenience...’ said the farmer breathless and continued ‘Mr. Marlow I would like to ask you if there is still a field left for us, the Greek farmers?’
‘Excuse me, my dear Greek friend but rentals have closed!’, Marlow answered.
‘So there is nothing left?’, Barba – Costas asked again.
‘Hmm, I have another field in Greece, the most fertile in Europe. It's full of olive groves. Nevertheless, I keep it for my old age. I don’t rent it my friend’, the big landowner said while looking from the bottom to the top the Greek farmer.
‘I have eleven more farmers to employ with this piece of land, Mr Marlow. As you said, is the most fertile field so you will also have profits! ", Barba – Costas exclaimed.
‘Allright, fine, I am going to give you the land and I hope you won’t disappoint me! From now on you belong to the circle of my own land! ", Marlow replied with great pleasure.
‘Thank you very much! ", Barba – Costas said.
‘However, you ought to remember there is one term! ",Marlow uttered strictly shaking his finger.
‘So what is that term?", Barba – Costas asked lifting his eyebrows.
‘As I said, because the field is the most fertile, I want to give me a daily report on the quantities of the crop from the olives and the olive oil that you will produce there! Each year you will send me my revenue from the sales and every two months you will send me a letter with a written report of the crop! Agreed? ",asked Marlow.
‘Stay calm! I ensure you that everything will be just as you said!", Barba – Costas responded confident.
Barba – Costas thanked Marlow clenching his hands hardly and then he signed the contracts. As he was leaving his office he was full of joy, holding tightly the contracts. Naksaurts and Yzokras tied their eyebrows out of curiosity while Lekrem stared at the Greek farmer with incredulity as he was leaving. Then she turned her eyes on her dad.
‘Dad, you were sure about that Greek farmer?", she said nervously.
‘Yeah, he seemed honest", Marlow telled his daughter.
‘Let's see!", Lekrem said and her chubby, ruby cheeks got even redder as she flared up from her anger.
As the days pass by, farmers who rented the fields of the English landowner began to cultivate the big tracts of land in various parts of Europe. Barba – Costas appointed eleven farmers on the large piece of land in Greece, so they began to process the dozens of acres. Five farmers of the six remaining, possessed their own machines that were used to carry out the olive harvest easier. The other six of them were content in manual jobs. Barba – Costas was there, in the outset of the tasks, and supervised the farmers by giving instructions and guidance to his colleagues. He also appointed one farmer supervisor, the overweight Barba – Thodoras who did anything but work. He used to do truancy from work and sit on the bench during the break, devouring large quantities of olives, trying not to be noticed by other workers.
After several days of harvest, the warehouses of the manor were filled with a sufficient amount of olives. Soon Barba – Costas sold the first batch to clients at a very good price. Lots of money came in the fund of the manor making Barba – Costas the happiest man in the world. He even organized free meals for them so they didn’t have to go to the village to eat but to be fed in the workplace, both the morning and afternoon. He just wanted to thank his employees in any way so he would never lose them. Of course neither he wanted to lose this good job and the good salary. He was more than pleased with his position and he couldn't hide it!
One morning, during work, one of the six farmers, who was using his own machine on the manor, complained to Barba – Costas for the spent fuel to harvest.
‘Barba – Costas, something must be done! I can not spend money out of my pocket for the machines!’ said Barba – Antonis.
‘Lefteris is right, neither I am able to put fuel every day out of my wallet!’, expressed a woman farmer, Kyra – Aleka.
But already I offer your salary and your food! I can’t offer the cost of your fuel’, Barba – Costas shouted.
If you can’t then you must tell Mr. Marlow in England to do something about that!’, Barba – Alexis said.
‘I agree!’, Barba – Yiorgos yelled and continued ‘you should tell Mr. Marlow to appoint an other leader of the manor, if you can’t offer our costs. On the other hand we can do a voting among us to elect a new leader!’, he ended.
‘I think you must give the employees whatever they want!’, shouted the supervisor of the estate, Barba – Thodoras, while his mouth was flooded with olives.
On hearing about the voting for a new leader Barba – Costas was shocked. He was clearly irritated so he started shouting farmers with no mercy.
‘Hey! Let me say you something! Mr. Marlow appointed me as a le
ader of the manor and I am the only person that can find a solution. The manor does not belong entirely to me. I ought to give a report on the costs and revenues. Well! Since you worry so much about your fuel, from now on you can go to the main shop in the village to fill freely from there the harvesting machines. As an exchange we will not give them money but we will provide them free olives and olive oil from the manor of Mr. Marlow!’, said Barba – Costas to the farmers. This solution relieved them as they returned to their jobs without second thought.
However Barba – Costas seemed anxious. The frequent supply of olive oil and olives to the filling station attendant of the village, significantly reduced the amount of crop. But he couldn’t do otherwise. If he refused this offer, the farmers would rebel and so frightened by the chance of a new leader’s reelection, he flinched. He didn’t want to lose his position by nothing.
After a few days a letter from England arrived at the offices of Marlow’s manor in Greece. Barba – Costas opened the folder hastily without second thought. The letter said that in seven days the leader of the manor should send the report of the crop. The report concerned the amount of the crop, the number of employees, their salaries and production sales. He grabbed the desk pen, obviously anxious, and began completing the form sent by the daughter of landowner Marlow, the chubby Ms. Lekrem. His hand was shaking as he was writing.