TheRedMahoganyPiano
乔伊·爱德华 / JoeEdwards
Manyyearsago， whenIwasayoungmaninmytwenties， .
Wesoldourpianosalloverthestatebyadvertisinginsmalltownnewspapersandthen， whenwehadreceivedsufficientreplies， wewouldloadourlittletrucks， driveintotheareaandsellthepianostothosewhohadreplied.
EverytimeweadvertisedinthecottoncountryofSoutheastMissouri， wewouldreceiveareplyonapostcardwhichsaid， ineffect， “ $10amonthwithmyeggmoney.” Theoldladyscrawledonandonandonthatpostcarduntilshefilleditup， thenturneditoverandevenwroteonthefront—aroundandaroundtheedgesuntiltherewasbarelyroomfortheaddress.
Ofcourse， wecouldnotsellanewpianofor $， soweignoredherpostcards.
Oneday， however， Ihappenedtobeinthatareacallingonotherreplies， ： Theoldladylivedinaoneroomshare-cropperscabininthemiddleofacottonfield.
， theoldladycouldnothavequalifiedtopurchaseanythingoncredit—nocar， nophone， norealjob， .Herlittlegranddaughterwasabout10， barefootandwearingafeed-sackdress.
Iexplainedtotheoldladythatwecouldnotsellanewpianofor $， butmyadvicehadnoeffect—， redmahogany， please， andswearingshewouldnevermissa $.
Acoupleofyearslater， Iownedmyownpianocompany， andwhenIadvertisedinthatarea， ， Iignoredthem—whatelsecouldIdo？
Butthen， ， IdeliveredthepianotoherandtoldherIwouldcarrythecontractmyselfat $10amonthwithnointerest， ， andIleft—sureIhadjustthrownawayanewpiano.
Butthepaymentscamein， all52ofthemasagreed —sometimeswithcoinstapedtoa3×！
So， Iputtheincidentoutofmymindfor20years.
ThenonedayIwasinMemphisonotherbusiness， andafterdinnerattheHolidayInnontheLevee， -dinnerdrink， ， andtherewasalovelyyoungwomanplayingaverynicegrandpiano.
Beingapianistofsomeabilitymyself， Iwasstunnedbyhervirtuosity， ， askedforrequests， andwhenshetookabreakshesatdownatmytable.
“Aren’tyouthemanwhosoldmygrandmaapianoalongtimeago？”
Itdidn’tringabell， soIaskedhertoexplain.
Shestartedtotellme， ， itwasher！ Itwasthelittlebarefootgirlinthefeedsackdress！
