The Baker and the Miller ( A Fable )

There was once a Miller, named Barney, who ran a very profitable business in a bustling little town.  Most all the farmers in the area brought their grain to his mill, for he had the best prides and a quick turnaround for their product..  He would charge less than the others milers, asking for a portion of the flour as part of the payment.  Some he would keep and the rest he would take the the baker ( who went by the nickname of Ginger because of his fiery red hair color)  and the two would split the profits from the bread the Baker produced.  This was mutually profitable as the Baker's seven grain bread was a favorite among the townspeople.  The two men became fast friends and both became quite prosperous.  Such was the influx of flour to the Baker that he could not keep up with the bread he and the Miller were to split and so he began to keep stores of flour in a huge room in a secret hidden down below his shop lest thieves steal his extra inventory.   Since his partner Miller was no fool, Baker made sure to "adjust" his books so no one was the wiser, neither Miller nor their accounting firm of Cowtem, Ketchum and Soo.  The partnership continued in this manner for many years.
    Weather problems came over a succession of years, starting one year when the spring rains began early and continued unabated until summer came, leaving the ground too sodden for planting.  Summer came and dried the fields, but then no rains came that season and what was planted withered in the fields and they lay fallow.   Rivers, lakes and wells began to shrink and dried up as not rains fell in the months to follow and winter came with freezing, bitter temperatures but no snow. Without grain and water enough only for themselves,  farmers began to loos animals also and so began the downward slide.   The town's emergency flour provisions, given out to the populace,  provided some relief but many households felt the crunch.  Both the Miller and the Baker had stores set aside and passed the first year with some discomfort but no real upheaval in their houses.
     The next year the rains again did not come and the famine continued as everyone drew their belts a little tighter.   Many of the farms that had provided the Miller with grain had begun to fail and were now on government aid to to carry them through this "temporary economic depression" as King Hope-ahm-mah called it.  The drought adversely affected the profits and stockpile of grain for the Miller as he now had to go to his stores of grain to provide Baker with flour to make bread, which was now the only source of income for the two.   This grain was Baker's alone but the did not charge his friend for the, though by rights he could have done so.  Soon even those stores were gone and with little money coming in from the destitute farmers the households of the two began to feel the famine's cruelty in earnest as did the rest of the townsfolk.
     The town emptied as many sought relief from the drought and famine in other areas, seeking the mountain regions were perhaps water still trickled from the source of heading for the coastal waters where there would at least be fish to eat, if the sea itself had not turned to salt flats.  A few remained as did the Miller and the Baker, both eking out a living from the arid soil.  The Baker having hidden great stores of flour in his secret room, would make make a loaf of unleavened bread each night in secret  with water gleaned from the condensation from the walls of his underground secret rooms and would eat that without sharing with the Miller or letting him know he still had flour. As time and the famine continued the Miller began to fade and was unable to continue to work in the fields and took to his bed to wait out the end.  Baker would visit the Miller daily and give solace to his friend but still did not giver any life sustaining bread, though he still had great piles of grain still hidden away.
     One day, during Baker's daily visits, the Miller noticed and aroma of bread about his old friend and said to the Baker, "Friend Baker, I smell your wonderful seven grain bread about you.  Now i know my time is short, for my mind is seeking to find solace in happier times".  The Baker,  struck with shame, answered harshly, "friend, indeed, if you can accuse me of keeping bread from you!  Have we not shared everything since we first began our partnership - I should leave you to face your fate alone and unattended for such and insult!". With the he rose and left the Miller, slamming the door as he went.  The Miller looked down at the seat where the Baker had been and saw bread crumbs scattered there and on the floor.
     Gathering up all his strength, the Miller crawled to the door and out towards the Baker's shop which was just around the corner.  He made he way down to the basement where he saw the Baker placing seven loaves of bread on table and head down a concealed stairway which led to the several rooms filled with flour.   Haven seen enough, the Miller made it back up the stairs and slammed the door shut, turning the lock on the huge oaken door in the floor.
     The Baker heard the door slamming shut and came running at the stairs, too late as the Miller was now eating fresh bread, still warm out of the oven.  "Friend Miller", cried the Baker, " let me out as the door seems to have closed upon me".  "Baker", said, "you seem to prefer the company of your flour to that of your fellow man.  Stay now with your precious flour and see how long that friendship lasts.  I will take these seven friends of mine and return when they are gone so we might begin our partnership again".  With that the miller made his way home with the seven loaves and waited out the famine.
     The Baker could not neither escape from the hidden rooms nor make any bread eat the flour and and soon died, his face pressed to the bottom of the  door as if looking for the sandals of the Miller.
     After a week when the bread was gone, the Miller returned to find the Baker dead.  He buried his old friend in the filed next to his mill and continued to live in the nearly deserted town.   He began making the bread himself and this he gave freely to those who had chosen to remain.  After a time the rains came, the drought and famine ended and prosperous times returned to the area.   When the town came back to life after the hardships, the Miller became even more prosperous than before, for people remembered his kindness in giving free bread during the famine and he quickly became the wealthiest Miller/Baker in the area.  He started another company but never had a partner again, lived to a ripe old age and was happy the rest of his days.
     Moral: Man does not live by bread alone...