1.Some of you have seen those crescent-shaped rolls
which are sometimes placed upon our table.How many,I wonder,have heard the curious old story about them?Here it is.
2.A great many years ago there was a war between the Austrians and the Turks-one of the many fierce wars that have been fought between the Christians and the followers of Mohammed.The city of Vienna had been for weeks in a state of siege.Shut in on all sides,the citizens could get no food from the country,and what they had within the city was almost finished.
3.The people were in despair.If they did not surrender,they must die of hunger;and if they did surrender,they would certainly be put to death by the Turks.It seemed as if nothing could save them from the dreadful fate that must soon come upon them.
4.So the days passed slowly on,until one evening VIENNA ROLLS a worthy,hard-working baker was in his bake-house,preparing the small quantity of flour that had to serve for tomorrow's bread.
5.Suddenly he heard a slight rattling sound some-where in the bake-house,which was repeated every few seconds.He stopped his work,listened carefully,and very soon found out the cause of the noise.
6.On the floor,in a corner of the bake-house,stood a toy drum belonging to one of his little boys,and upon the tight skin head of it were lying several marbles.
7.The baker watched the drum closely.Every second or two the head of the drum would quiver,and the little marbles would dance and rattle upon it as if they were alive.Then putting his ear to the ground,he heard a distinct tapping or hammering;and he noticed that each tap made the marbles dance again.
8.For a long time he could not think what this strange tapping meant,until suddenly it struck him that it must be caused by the regular blows of a pick,and that the Turks were doing what had been much feared-cutting a passage under the city walls into the city.
9.The baker thought there might still be time to stop them in this work,so he went at once to tell the rulers of the city what he had discovered.They told the general in command of the troops,and he looked into the matter carefully for himself.He found that the baker's opinion was correct.
10.By means of this discovery,the Austrians were able to defeat the plans of the Turks.They made sudden attack on them while they were at work,and put them to flight;and thus the city was saved.
11.When the war was over,and thanksgivings for the victory had been offered in the churches,the baker was sent for and brought before the emperor himself."I understand,"said the emperor,"that we owe our safety,under God,to you.Ask what you will as your reward."
12."Sire,"answered the honest baker,"I ask but for one thing.A poor fellow like me is not fit for riches or rank,and I want neither.Grant me but this one thing,your majesty,and I am content.Let me,and my children after me,from this time make our bread in the form of that crescent on the Turkish flag which has so long been our terror,so that every day those who eat it may be reminded that Christ is greater than Mohammed."
The baker's request was at once granted;and so great was the demand for his bread that he soon made a fortune.