Austin Che
3/6/96
Period 4
Mythology

John and the Money Tree

	One day John said to his Ole Massa, "Ah kin make yuh rich. Ah kin make yuh so rich, 
yuh wouldn' need no mo' money fuh de rest of yuh life." Ole Massa told John he was crazy and 
furthermore that if John could make him rich, he would set John free. Well John said he needed 
$20 to make Ole Massa rich. When the Ole Massa heard this, he said to himself, "My slave is 
trying to trick money from me. I'll teach him a lesson!" So Ole Massa gave John $20 saying, "If 
you don't make me rich, I'll whip you good for lying and stealing my $20. And then you'll work 
in the fields every single day for the rest of your life earning money for me."
	The following day, many of Ole Massa's friends came to the plantation to celebrate one 
of those festive holidays that everyone is supposed to celebrate. There were going to be gigantic 
feasts and entertainment that would brighten anyone's day. Since everyone was staying at the 
plantation for several days, Ole Massa told John to give the guests a tour of the plantation and to 
lead the guests to their room for the night. Well John gave a grand tour of the plantation. He 
would stop and show the cotton fields, the outhouse and of course the living quarters.
	John also showed each guest the money tree. John would point at the tree and say, "An' 
dere is de money tree." The guests invariably asked where the tree was and John would again 
point to the empty space in front of them. John would then explain to the guests about this 
amazing money tree. John said that this was a magical tree and only a special type of person 
could see it. When the guests asked what kind of person, John would answer "Uh good an' kind 
man."
	John said that this tree had been bought and planted for only $20. John would put his 
hands on the top of the tree to show how much it had grown since it had been planted just awhile 
ago. Then he would gently grab near the tree, like he was picking cotton, and when John opened 
his hands, there was always a dollar bill. John gave each guest a dollar bill saying, "Dere plenty 
mo' on de tree."
	The guests then would admire the tree examining every little detail of it. John would 
offer, "Ah got seeds fuh dis tree. Ah'll sell dese fuh $15." Well, of course the guests jumped on 
this great offer. All the guests bought some seeds to this remarkable tree. John carefully put the 
seeds into the guests' hands while giving careful instructions for the guests to grow their own 
money tree. John explained that the seeds were also invisible to certain people, just like the tree. 
All the guests had this same grand tour and by the end of this tour, the guests were going back to 
their rooms with tightly clenched fists holding on to the precious seeds.
	The next morning, John went to Ole Massa and congratulated him on being rich. John 
showed Ole Massa the money tree and explained that he had bought this tree from the $20 Ole 
Massa had given him. John said, "Uh good an' kind man kin see de tree. Ah sure yuh good an' 
kind." The guests, as they woke up, came out and examined the tree very closely while praising 
Ole Massa's good fortune.
	Well Ole Massa was surprised that he could not see the tree. He was surprised that he was 
not as good and kind as his guests who could see the tree. Of course he didn't admit that he 
couldn't see this tree full of money. He accepted the praise from the guests and thanked John for 
the tree. Well, Ole Massa desperately wanted to see the tree, so he set John free as promised. Ole 
Massa hoped it would make him good and kind enough to see the tree and become rich.
	As John walked down the road away from the plantation a free man, with pockets bulging 
with money, he said to himself, "Good, kind, an' stupid."