The Tale Of Paddy Ahern

THERE ONCE WAS a lad named Paddy Ahern who trod the green hills of Limerick, Ireland, offering to help farmers with their chores in return for food and lodging.

- Patricia McHugh

Trudging uphill and down over the country roads, day after day, wore Paddy’s shoes so thin that sometimes he wondered if he shouldn’t have apprenticed to a shoemaker. But that would have been inside work, and Paddy preferred fresh air and sunshine.

Young Paddy was slight of build, but strong. He had a pleasant face, though his short brown hair, which he cut himself, stuck out here and there under his cap. His tweed jacket may have been a mite small, but Paddy kept it clean, taking care to brush off the dust at the end of each day’s work. However, in spite of his earnest appearance, no one wanted to hire poor Paddy.

Indeed, the farmers much admired the fields Paddy plowed, the long rows of potatoes he planted, and the hay that he stacked. Yet there were some things the wandering lad could not do. He could not tell stories, nor sing songs, nor play the flute or fiddle to entertain the farmers. And the farmers needed that, too.

“Haven’t yeh got a story to tell, Paddy?” a farmer once asked after sharing supper with the boy. “Or maybe some news or a song?”

Paddy looked at the ceiling. Then he looked at the floor. Finally, he shuffled his feet until the farmer, hopeful for any amusement, thought Paddy might be about to dance. Instead, not saying a word, Paddy just slowly shook his head no.

Well, each farmer who had an experience with Paddy told another, so it wasn’t long before Paddy’s reputation as a boring person was known throughout County Limerick.