Three Days of Freedom
The servant was overjoyed. For three whole days, he wouldn’t have to do anything that was usually expected of him every single day. No preparing breakfast, no polishing shoes, no scrubbing floors, no cooking lunch, no cleaning the stables, no carrying water, no chopping wood, no serving dinner, no washing the master’s feet, and no putting the master to bed. Three days free of it all. He felt like a giant, finally free.
But on the morning of the second day, he began to think. He got bored, and his thoughts started racing. Why had the master given him three days off? And what did the master have planned for Saturday? He started imagining scenarios and felt his anxiety growing. He tried to prepare himself for every possible task that might await him on Saturday, but the more he thought about it, the bigger the mountain in his head became.
Overcome with uncertainty, he decided to seek answers before Saturday arrived. He went to the master and asked, “Master, could you tell me what awaits me on Saturday?”
The master looked at him with a slight smirk and replied, “Ah, Saturday, Saturday... Why are you asking? It’s still two days away. And what would be special about the task if I told you now?”
The servant apologized and ran out to the courtyard. But his anxiety had already taken hold of him. Suddenly, he remembered that the master had a previous servant who now lived in a village ten kilometers away. Perhaps this former servant knew something about the “great, special, secret task.” So he packed some food, filled a bottle of water, and set off.
After two and a half hours, he reached the village and quickly found the former servant. Without hesitation, he asked, “You used to work for the master. He has a great, special, secret task for me on Saturday. You must know what it is, right?”
The man looked at him with a smile and replied, “I never had a great, special, secret task. And even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. Those are the master’s secrets and his lessons.” Without another word, the man turned and left, leaving the servant speechless and desperate.
He sat by a lake, stared into the water, and felt the weight of his thoughts. After three hours of pondering, he decided to return home, even though he had found no answers. It was dark when he arrived, and he was so tired and angry—at the master, at the former servant, and at the entire situation. “That old fool,” he thought of the master, “won’t tell me anything. And the other one is no better.”
He collapsed into bed and fell asleep immediately. But the night was filled with nightmares. In his dreams, the master tied him to a post while the former servant poked him with pitchforks. Both laughed loudly, and the servant felt a fear that wouldn’t let go.
On the third day of his freedom, he could no longer enjoy himself. He stayed in bed, grabbed a notebook, and started writing stories. Dark stories, so grim that even ghosts would be terrified. It was his way of venting his fear and pressure. But when he fell asleep, the characters from his stories came to haunt him. Monsters, cannibals, and other grotesque figures he had created gave him no peace.
On Saturday morning, he jumped out of bed at five o’clock and threw himself into work. He was so distracted that he didn’t notice how quickly the time passed. Task after task, he worked until evening. He prepared the master for bed as usual and couldn’t hold back any longer. “Master, what about the great, special, secret task? Today is Saturday! I’ve been waiting three days and working all day for it!”
The master smirked slightly and said, “Ah yes, Saturday... Saturday... Today is Saturday. I’d like to drink a cup of tea before bed tonight, something I never do. So, I could use a cup of tea. And bring me two sugar cubes.”
The servant was speechless. “But what about the great, special, secret task?! Master?!” he cried out.
The master smiled and calmly replied, “Tea and two sugar cubes are all I want. I never drink tea before bed—except once a year, always on this Saturday.”
The servant felt like he was collapsing inside. “But master, I’ve been consumed by fear for the last three days. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t enjoy my freedom. I couldn’t...”
The master raised his hand and said, “Shhh... I gave you freedom because you earned it. You worked hard, and I wanted to give you a break. I never said there was a great, special, secret task. You made it up yourself. You started thinking, overthinking, questioning my good intentions. You turned a molehill into a mountain. The freedom I gave you, you turned into a prison. The lesson you should learn is simple: sometimes you need to let go, let things happen, and accept that not everything in life can be controlled.”
The servant lowered his gaze and realized that he was the one who had created all the fear and pressure. The greatest lesson wasn’t the task—it was what he had learned about himself.
