The mower showed up in front of the new building on time.
There was a modern facility specially designed to shelter disabled people stuck on wheelchairs, built in one of those villages surrounding the town where the land is cheaper and the air cleaner.
He was hired to mow the grass of the house backyard.
He didn’t hassle over the amount and the administrator was delighted by the bargain.
No wonder that he accepted such a small sum of money, most of the villagers saw him as a slightly retarded person who would content himself with almost nothing for such a job.
The administrator was late that morning, but the mower didn’t move a step all that time. He was reading the sign above the entrance, spelling each letter many times, putting them together to make out what was written there.
It was almost noon when the mower was allowed in the backyard.
He first sharpened his scythe, and then started to mow the grass between the trees with large moves and that confidence acquired by years and years of experience.
After a while, he got tired and lay down under an apple tree away from the scorching sun, looking at the grey windows facing him. The crippled must spend all their time behind those windows, he thought, and felt pity for them.
He knew nothing about Newton but also noticed that the apple fallen from the tree not far from him couldn’t move either because it was missing legs too.
Thrilled by this discovery he started to work again but this time he had a feeling that he should mow the grass with restrained moves not to offend the disabled people behind the windows.
It took many hours to finish the job this way, and the administrator was very angry at the delay.
-Lucky you! he uttered.
-Lucky you that the house was empty and nobody saw you! They were spared the view of such a lazy mower.
-It is empty? mumbled the mower.
-Why did you move so slowly? asked the administrator.
The mower didn’t know the answer, bowed his head and took a look around him, then said:
I did it for ....the apple.
The administrator whispered between his teeth “Great! Now the retarded has gone crazy!”
-You won’t receive any money today! he said and got in his car, leaving the mower alone in the middle of the backyard.