Boekverslag: The man from the south
STORY : A man called Rudolph, the main person of this story, is from Ohio. One day he travels to Jamaica and when he is having a nice glass of beer - lying on his deck chair (!) - the story really begins...
A small old man in white, with a Spanish accent, sits beside him and starts a chat with Rudolph. And also a young man and a young woman about thirty, coming from the swimming-pool, join "the party"! The young man offers Rudolph and the old man a cigarette, but the old man takes a cigar. Then the old man takes a silver lighter and tells the young man: ,,I bet you can't light this lighter ten times in a row". The young man, under the supervision of his girlfriend, reacts. So the old man comes with a proposal: ,,If the young man succeeds in lighting the lighter ten times without failing, he is going to get a brand-new Cadillac, from me !" ,,However, if he fails, he has to give one of his ten fingers to me and then I will cut this finger from his hand personally with a chopping knife!" The boy accepts the bet and Rudolph takes care of the keys of the Cadillac. The bet will be kept in the room of the old man and when everybody has arrived the old man rings for a servant. He asks the servant to bring him a big chopping knife, a robe, a hammer and two nails. The old man hits the two nails into the table, where the young man has to place his two fingers in between and where his little finger - because that's the one which is going to cut off if he loses this bet - is going to be tied up. Of course, the other fingers he can use to light the lighter. The old man keeps the chopping knife above the little finger, while the young man starts to pull the lighter: ... one ... two ... three ... four ... five ... six ... seven ... eight ... Suddenly, the young man is interrupted by a small, probably Spanish woman who enters the room. She takes the chopping knife out of the old man's hand and starts pushing and hitting him and yelling at him in Spanish. Finally when the old man is "knock-out", the woman starts to speak in English. She tells the others that her husband has a mania for cutting off fingers by making bets. In the past he cut 47 fingers and lost 11 very expensive cars by bets. She also tells that her husband doesn't have anything and that all the money and cars he gambles, belong to her. The point is that she became very rich by gambling.
Eventually she asked for the keys of the Cadillac and if Rudolph hands her the keys, he sees that her hands only have got one finger on the left and a thumb...
A small old man in white, with a Spanish accent, sits beside him and starts a chat with Rudolph. And also a young man and a young woman about thirty, coming from the swimming-pool, join "the party"! The young man offers Rudolph and the old man a cigarette, but the old man takes a cigar. Then the old man takes a silver lighter and tells the young man: ,,I bet you can't light this lighter ten times in a row". The young man, under the supervision of his girlfriend, reacts. So the old man comes with a proposal: ,,If the young man succeeds in lighting the lighter ten times without failing, he is going to get a brand-new Cadillac, from me !" ,,However, if he fails, he has to give one of his ten fingers to me and then I will cut this finger from his hand personally with a chopping knife!" The boy accepts the bet and Rudolph takes care of the keys of the Cadillac. The bet will be kept in the room of the old man and when everybody has arrived the old man rings for a servant. He asks the servant to bring him a big chopping knife, a robe, a hammer and two nails. The old man hits the two nails into the table, where the young man has to place his two fingers in between and where his little finger - because that's the one which is going to cut off if he loses this bet - is going to be tied up. Of course, the other fingers he can use to light the lighter. The old man keeps the chopping knife above the little finger, while the young man starts to pull the lighter: ... one ... two ... three ... four ... five ... six ... seven ... eight ... Suddenly, the young man is interrupted by a small, probably Spanish woman who enters the room. She takes the chopping knife out of the old man's hand and starts pushing and hitting him and yelling at him in Spanish. Finally when the old man is "knock-out", the woman starts to speak in English. She tells the others that her husband has a mania for cutting off fingers by making bets. In the past he cut 47 fingers and lost 11 very expensive cars by bets. She also tells that her husband doesn't have anything and that all the money and cars he gambles, belong to her. The point is that she became very rich by gambling.
Eventually she asked for the keys of the Cadillac and if Rudolph hands her the keys, he sees that her hands only have got one finger on the left and a thumb...