Tom worked for a kind man in the next town. The man made
tables and other things from wood. Tom worked very hard for
one year. When the year ended, the kind man gave him a table. It
looked old and dirty, but it was a magic table.
‘Say to the table, “I am hungry.” Then wonderful food will
appear on it by magic,’ said the man, with a smile.
‘You are very kind,’ said Tom to the man. And he left. He went
from country to country and from city to city, and he was always
happy. He carried his table on his back. When he wanted food, he
put the table down – in the street, by a river, under a tree. He said
to the table, ‘I am hungry’, and lovely food appeared.
Some months later, he thought, ‘I would like to see my mother.
I’ll go home.’
On the last night of his journey to his mother’s house, he
came to an old house. An old man lived there.
‘Can I stay the night here?’ he asked the old man.
‘Yes, you can stay here, but I can’t give you any food,’ said the
old man.
‘Don’t give me any food,’ Tom said. ‘You can eat with me.’
Then he put down his table and said, ‘I am hungry.’ Wonderful
food appeared and they ate it.
Now this man was not a good man. He was a jealous man.
‘I want this boy’s table,’ he thought. ‘It will give me food. I can
sell the food to other people. I will never be hungry again.
When Tom was asleep that night, the old man took the magic
table from Tom’s room. He worked all night and made a new table.
It looked the same. He put it next to Tom’s bed.
The next morning Tom put the new table on his back and he
walked to his mother’s house.
Tom’s mother was very happy when she saw her youngest son.
‘What did you do when you were away?’ she asked.
‘I made tables,’ said Tom. ‘And I have a table here.’
‘It’s not a very nice table,’ said his mother.
‘But it’s a magic table,’ answered Tom. ‘When I say to it, “I am
hungry”, beautiful food appears on it.’
‘Show me!’ said his mother.
‘Let’s invite our friends from the village. Then everybody can
see the magic,’ said Tom.
Tom’s mother invited everybody from the village. Tom put his
table down in front of them and said, ‘I am hungry.’ But nothing
happened. No wonderful food appeared on the table. Everybody
laughed and went away. Tom was very angry. He knew now – the
old man had his magic table.
Tom was very unhappy. He ran away from home and went
back to his old job. He wrote to his brother, Jack. His letter told
the story of the magic table and the jealous old man.