SALEM AND THE NAIL

   Once upon a time . . . the shop belonging to an astute merchant called 
Salem, and all the carpets in it, were burnt in a fire. Salem was left with 
nothing but his house, and since he was a trader he decided to sell it. With 
the money he would be able to buy a new shop and more carpets. Salem did not 
ask a high price for his house. However, he had a most unusual request to make
of would-be buyers: "I'll sell you the house, except for that nail in the 
wall. That remains mine!" And as they all went off, shaking their heads, they 
wondered what he meant by this strange
   Abraham, however, more miserly than all the others, thought the price was 
fair, and he even haggled it down further. A bargain was struck and the new 
owner took over the whole house, except for the nail. A week later, Salem 
knocked at the door.
   "I've come to hang something on my nail," he said. Abraham let him in and 
Salem hung up a large empty bag, said goodbye and left. A few days later, he 
appeared again, and this time hung an old cloak on the nail. From then on, 
Salem's visits became regular; he was forever coming and going, taking things 
off the nail or hanging something else up.
   One evening, in front of the stunned eyes of Abraham and his family, Salem 
arrived dragging a dead donkey. With a struggle, he hoisted it up and roped it
to the nail. The occupants of the house complained about the smell and the 
sight of the dead beast, but Salem calmly said: "It's my nail and I can hang 
anything I like on it!"
   Abraham, naturally, could no longer live in the house under such 
conditions. But Salem refused to remove the donkey.
   "If you don't like it," he said, "you can get out of my house, but I'll not
pay you back a penny!"
   Abraham did his best to persuade Salem to take the donkey down, for it 
smelt to high heaven. He even consulted a judge, but the terms of the bargain 
were clear. The house belonged to Abraham, but Salem kept the nail.
   In the end, Abraham was forced to leave, and Salem got his house back 
without paying a penny for it!
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