Uncle Podger and the Picture–III

 

Thereafter, everyone had to find the hammer for Uncle Podger. In the meantime, Uncle Podger lost the mark that he had made on the wall. The nail was supposed to go in there. All had to stand up, get on the chair beside Uncle Podger and see whether they could find it. However, they found it in a different spot, and Uncle Podger called them fools.

          He tried to reach a point that was three inches beyond what was possible to reach. As a result, the string got slipped. Then Uncle Podger had to slide on to the piano.

          Lastly, he got the spot fixed. Then after putting the pointed portion of the nail on it with his left hand, he took the hammer in his right. Right then, with the first blow, he smashed his thumb with a painful yell. The hammer got dropped on somebody’s toes thereafter.

          Again, Aunt Maria observed mildly that the next time she would hope that he would let her know in time. If Aunt Maria was informed the next time when Uncle Podger would hammer a nail into the wall, she would arrange to go to her mother for spending a week while the hammer-and-nail episode would be done.

          Uncle Podger used to say, “Oh! You make such trouble in everything.” Again, after picking himself up, Uncle Podger used to answer, “I like doing a job of this kind.”

          Thereafter, he had another try. Anyway, in his second attempt, he made the nail go clean through the plaster. Again, the children had to find the rule and the string. Yes, a new hole was made. The picture was hung on the wall at about midnight, though it was very crooked and uncertain.

          At last, Uncle Podger said, “There you are”, after stepping heavily off the chair. After looking at the fuss, he felt proud of his work.

            [Retold a portion from Jerome Klapka Jerome’s Three Men in a Boat]

Moral: We should be self-dependent and should never blame others.

You may like to read my other blogs:

https://mirandamemmi.blogspot.com/

https://somaliomnibus.blogspot.com/

https://essaysofvariety.blogspot.com/

https://somalimukherjee.blogspot.com/