An Unexpected¹ Hobby

Alice lived in the country, but one year she decided² to visit the capital city to do some shopping and to go sight-seeing. She stayed at a hotel beside the central market. She had seldom been to the city before, and was very excited about what she would find.

On the first morning in the city, as she walked from the hotel to the market, she passed a beggar³. On the ground was a notice which said, “Blind ant birth. Please give generously⁴.” Alice felt sorry for the blind beggar and she put a dollar coin into his bowl. “Thank you.” he said.

On the third day, however, Alice did not have a dollar coin. She had only fifty cents so she dropped this into the beggar's bowl. The beggar noticed that she gave him less money than the first two times. “Why are you so stingy today?”

Alice was very surprised by what the beggar said. “How do you know I haven't given you a dollar?” she said, “If you're blind you can't know what coin I put into your bowl.”

“Ah,” explained the beggar, “to tell you the truth, I'm not blind. I'm just looking after this place for the regular while he's on holiday.”

“Oh, holiday!” Alice exclaimed⁵. “And what exactly does your blind friend do on holiday?”

“He goes into the country,” the man said, “And takes photographs. He's a very good photographer⁶.”