A Tale of a Bet

I have submitted this little tale to hopefully be included in the forthcoming book by Cwmbran Writers Group which should be out for Christmas.

Many years ago, back in the days when stagecoaches travelled the well worn tracks that were the country's roads, there was a man who lived in the county of Glamorgan. He was well known to local people for having won many bets and that bet was that he could allow the stagecoach to pass between his legs. Many people had been foolish enough to take up this offer of a bet and so the man was making quite a good living.

One day, a stranger arrived in the man's village and he sensed another opportunity to make some money, by betting that he could allow the stagecoach to pass between his legs. The man approached the stranger and the stranger accepted his offer, thinking that he too would make some easy money.

When the time came for the stagecoach to travel through the village, the man positioned himself on the roadside opposite the village churchyard. The stranger also waited, along with a crowd who regularly gathered for the event of seeing yet another traveller fall for the bet. Eventually the stagecoach came thundering down the road. The man stayed silent and motionless as the coach and horses swept past and turned into the coaching inn a little further on. When the dust had settled, the stranger turned to the man, smiled and held out his hand to receive his winnings. He had only accepted the bet because the man was an amputee, he only had one leg, there was no way the stagecoach could pass between his legs, no way he could lose the bet.

The man responded to the stranger by laughing and telling him that actually, he had won the bet and the stagecoach had, in fact, passed through his legs. He pointed at the ground to the one leg he was standing on and then, across the road to the church and explained to the stranger that there was the location of his other leg, resting in the graveyard.