Word: kolkman
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...civil servant found a man dressed in unspeakable rags, and so thin that his ribs seemed about to burst out of his skin. His boss, Farmer Abraham Kolkman, 72, curtly explained that Bally was nearly deaf and blind, volunteered to sign the pension papers himself. Then suddenly Bally spoke up to contradict his master for the first time in 50 long years. "I can sign my name," he said. "It's my money." And that very night he ran away...
...week, dressed in the first pair of pajamas he had ever had and wearing a new hearing aid and spectacles that the old folks' home had given him, Bally told reporters his eerie story. Back in 1910, Bally, a 15-year-old orphan, was shipped off to Farmer Kolkman's place to work for a bed in the attic and 2.50 guilders (65?) a week. In those days the guilder went far, and young Bally never complained. By the time the first World War broke out, he was too deaf to be called up, and since his eyesight...
...married and then had a baby, the family decided to cut down on Bally's rations to even out the family budget. Occasionally a neighbor would see Bally scrounging around in the garbage. Still, Bally had one great pleasure-his Bible, which he could read whenever Madame Kolkman, as a mark of special favor, allowed him to use her glasses...
...night he ran away, Farmer Kolkman had decided to punish Bally for his impertinence in front of the government man by withholding Madame Kolkman's glasses indefinitely. After 50 years, this was too much for Bally to bear...
When the newspapers spread Bally's story, Farmer Kolkman could not understand the fuss. "Hendrik never asked for a raise," he said. "He had his Sunday suit, and every morning we gave him an egg. He didn't want any more." As for Bally himself, now that he had glasses of his own, he had taken a look at newspapers again, and could not find much of interest in them. "It's like the old days," he said. "They still quarrel...
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