The Tale of MR. & MRS. HAND
The Tale of MR. & MRS. HAND
Once upon a time there was two hands belonging to a human. They were just like a man and wife, because they sort of lived together. And so they were never called anything but Mr. Right Hand and Mrs. Left Hand.
The human was very satisfied with both his hands, for they were fit and willing. Anything that needed to be done was done swiftly and thoroughly. Yes, friends even said that this human had skilful hands. And this was some praise for both Mr. and Mrs. Hand.
But alas! If everything had just stayed the same, well, there had been no reason to tell this tale. But listen up and you will learn what happened next, and it will teach you a lesson.
One day Mrs. Left began to change. She was not satisfied with her place in life. She had begun noticing that there was a difference between the job she did, and the job Mr. Right Hand would perform. She realized that it was always Mr. Right who did all the exciting things! He was the one writing letters, taking things apart and pointing the direction for the human, whenever he had something to show.
And it was always Mr. Right that used the tools, made notes on the paper and polished the car. So, Mrs. Left meant that he took on all the interesting and essential things, while all that was left for her was to hold the paper and things being repaired. All her life she was his dull support, all she did were the necessary things that needed to be done, things that no-one ever noticed. Yes, all the uninteresting things were left for her!
Mrs. Left got more and more sulky and cross the more she pondered on these facts. She felt it so unfair that it was always Mr. Right who had all the challenging and exciting tasks, and he was always credited for the things he could do. Of course, it was not true at all, for everyone regarded the hands as one unity. But nevertheless, this was the way that Mrs. Left Hand would feel.
It was always Mr. Right who took the money and gave them away, she learned - all she did was to hold the purse for him! And when they were out driving the bike he would wave to everybody, decide when to shift the gears and ring the bell, while all she could do was to cling on to the handlebars and keep the bike on the road. It was always Mr. Right saying hello and goodbye to those they met. Only to the ones they knew very well would Mrs. Left be allowed a hug and a cuddle.
Mrs. Left sighed sadly when she thought about this, and there were never anyone cheering her up or praising her for what she did, like: "You really held that paper steady!" or "Without you these potatoes would be hard work to peal!". No, no-one ever gave praise to Mrs. Left - especially not Mr. Right. But that would possibly never had done any difference in her mind.
Gradually, Mrs. Left began quarreling with Mr. Right, for instance, over pencils that she wanted to hold, because she would like to try to write too. She also made Mr. Right feel bad by constantly telling him that he was no good. And so Mrs. Left refused to hold the paper for Mr. Right, like when he was writing shopping notes. "These things will come tro the mind of the human rahter than he will ever be able to read your writing!" she would say. Of course, this was her way to try to tell Mr. Right that she also made a difference. But he would not understand.
Eventually, everything was unfair and wrong to Mrs. Left. There was no doubt who she would blame for this miserable situation: Mr. Right. He jumped around, always making fun, he would attract everybodys attention and show off!
Yes, these were the thoughts of Mrs. Left Hand, so - as you can already predict - everything turned from bad to worse. Mrs. Left got more and more dissatisfied, and Mr. Right could not say or do anything except she would fly into a temper. And he became more and more uncertain and confused when he was confronted with the constantly more strange behaviour from Mrs. Hand. So, he would not do his work properly. This was of course a great satisfaction for Mrs. Left, telling her that she was right! As you can gather from this things did not get any easier when Mrs. Left would gloat and laugh over things that did not work for Mr. Right, and when she could only feel big when Mr. Right felt small.
Mr. Right could not see Mrs. Left's problem. He never wondered why they had different jobs to do - just like I would guess that you never observe what either of your hands would do. This is not a thing you would notice, really, except if you lose or sprain a hand, or perhaps if you are lefthanded.
Whenever the Hands came to parties Mrs. Left would begin to greet the other hands herself. It did cause a great deal of confusion. Not only in Mr. Right's mind. As you know the left hand is not for short greetings, but more of a holding hands-type of contact. They are perfect for that; and when you think about it you will realize that the left hand is very patient and delicate and will hold things for a long time while the right hand work. So, it had to go wrong - and it really did one day.
It was a day when Mrs. Left sat indolent and sad on the human arm, because she did not like to go to a party with Mr. Right. In all this dreariness all over sudden came another hand and lifted her up!
His name was Mr. Fist, he told her, while he cuddled her fingers. Most of the time he would be clenched. But she had made him open up. And now he told her of his human, who spend most of his time relaxing and being cool. Mr. Fist could do as he pleased - his human seldom gave him any jobs to do. And Mr. Fist reckoned he led a happy life in this manner, except he so needed one to hold him. For hands has to do something, don't they?
And was this something more exciting than Mr. Right Hand, Mrs. Left said to herself. Mr. Fist was a very attentive and sensitive hand, she felt, he understood her feelings. He did not use all his time on projects, tasks and weird ideas. So she would not let go of him. On the contrary, she would seek any opportunity to place herself under his big, strong palm. Nothing could be so nice as when he held her tight, she would think. He was much more patient with everything than Mr. Right. Now she felt alive again!
One day Mrs. Left decided to leave Mr. Right. From now on she would live with Mr. Fist. Mr. Right tried his best to explain to her, that this would mean a lot of difficulties, for they had each an arm, but they belonged to the same human! Mr. Fist belonged to another human. So it would be both wrong and foolish to part, was Mr. Right's oppinion. He would rather that they found a way to get together again and work as one.
But Mrs. Left would not hear of this, she had made up her mind. Was not love the most important thing in life? she asked him. And what importance could it be to which human they belonged? A hand is as free as can be of the body - at least Mr. Fist was! And, anyway, there could not be more trouble than there had been between her and Mr. Right for a long time. All things considered she was willing to pay the price, because she was in love with Mr. Fist.
So Mr. and Mrs. Hand was no longer a couple. But still -. The worst thing about the situation was that Mrs. Left could not really get away from Mr. Right, even though she preferred to be with Mr. Fist. For he was always within an arms length, and from time to time he would pop up, just to show himself. Or, so it seemed in her mind.
Mrs. Left Venstre was annoyed and tightened her muscles anxiously, whenever she saw what Mr. Right was doing; how pityful and awkward he was, now that he no longer had her to support her! Now he would learn and understand her true value, she would think! And Mr. Right was, for a fact, shaky at this point. Not only did he depend on Mrs. Left Hand's support, but when he would meet her she would be tight and reserved.
By preference Mr. Right would like to forget everything that had happened, forget it and start over with Mrs. Left. But it was as if a clammy hand had got between them. And Mr. Fist came to see Mrs. Left regularly, and had no intention of going away. He would like to have her in the palm of his hand. And as he seldom had anything to do, he appreciated a rest in the warm and tender hand of Mrs. Left.
Mr. Right Hand had a hard time. Mrs. Left hid herself for him, and when they came across by accident, Mrs. Left would scold and have Mr. Fist hit him! Mr. Right was so embarrassed by her new behaviour. But Mrs. Left could not see the problem; Mr. Right could stay away and leave her and Mr. Fist alone. And why did he not just scrape, write, pick, peel, scratch, score, cut, point, pinch, press and knock as ever he would like!
So the time passed. Mr. Right began to work again and jump around with the same energy as before. Of course it was not as easy as before, now he had to do everything by himself. Surely, Mr. Right Hand discovered the hard life of doing everything with just one hand. Each task of the day gave him double trouble when he had to do everything one-handed.
To light a match is like fun for two hands assisting each other, but for one hand this is a major job. Two hands can easily tie the shoe-laces, tighten the belt and button the coat. With one hand this is difficult. But it can be done, and in time Mr. Right got rather good at this. He also found ways to place and hold the things to make it easier now that Mrs. Left Hand was not there to assist him. But it would never be the same as when he and Mrs. Left lived together.
And Mr. Right never was as pleased and content as earlier on. He could not help feeling sad to see Mrs. Left hiding in her pocket only to show herself when Mr. Fist came by. She had turned into a touchy and clenchy hand. This made Mr. Right Hand feel low. Neither of them would be happy by themselves, as they belonged to the same body. It is so wrong, Mr. Right thought, that hands should be enemies, be envious of one another and strike at each other. But nothing made Mrs. Left change her mind. And Mr. Fist liked the way things were.
But one day everything changed! All over sudden - within the blink of an eye! By accident the human fell against a heated oven, and Mrs. Left had to put out her hand before her. And was she burned bad! But Mr. Right was there at once to hold her and comfort her, as he felt the same pain. Now his skills using just one hand came in handy. He placed her under the cold water, dried her gently with a towel, and almost with no trouble he put ointment and a bandage around her.
But where was Mr. Fist? As he saw what happened he sprang away from Mrs. Left to avoid the heat from the oven, and afterwards he would be seen crawling nervously around the chin of his human, looking on from a distance as Mr. Right took care of Mrs. Left's burns.
Now she realized that Mr. Right truely shared her pain, while Mr. Fist would never be able to do so! Now she understood why she and Mr. Right out of necessity had to stay together for better or for worse: They were one flesh.
