[ IP ] The Fisherman

He lived in a small hut. He did n't own a pair of shoes nor fancy clothes. He did not own material objects; not one shiny trinket. He had n't wealth nor family, but the lonely old fisherman always had a smile on his face. He smiled whether the sun shone down or the rain poured hard. He smiled whether he had a large catch or did not catch anything at all. He was, by definition, the poorest in his village but would give away his daily catch to those in need. 
 
 There was a woman he had once loved that was wooed away by sparkling baubles and a silver tongued devil. The fisherman continued to smile. His only friends, a pair of birds, stayed with him night and day. He sang to them and fed them first at meals but they could not fill the void. 
 
 He caught a cold one chilly day that he could n't pay to cure. A neighbour found him, three days cold, with a smile still on his face. He may have died all alone and a pauper in his hut near the river where he fished, but the entire village came together to honour the lonely fisherman. Now every year they hold a feast in his memory for never such a generous man have they seen since. In the end, the fisherman who had nothing and no one, had touched more lives than the richest of them all.
