But first, you and I must come to an agreement. The agreement is this: You will continue to manage this office, as you always have, and there will be no change in the way the shop is run. You will not be moved from your office or promoted. To do so would be to imply that you were unworthy of that office and of his confidence. You will not be given a raise in salary, and so my gift of the bicycle will be a complete surprise to you." "I see." "My will, as you know, was made very shortly after I first arrived. It gave you a ten percent raise at the end of every two-year period, for as long as you held the position. I had expected you would serve here for fifty years, so that twenty raises and gifts of bicycles would occur. Now that I think about it, that was probably a foolish thing to do. If I am to leave for other shores, then there is no longer any point to such a long engagement of our lives. Instead of one hundred years, I have given you only fifty. Therefore, I have determined that you will retire at the end of the year, when you turn sixty-four years of age. No one else will need to be told of this except my lawyer. You may think I am making a great mistake, but you need not consider the matter. You will continue to do your job exactly as you always have, just as if you were not getting a raise. If you will do this, then I will also continue to pay you the original amount for your time. You have never received any salary from me, but this is now how it will continue to be." "I think I understand," said the shopkeeper. "It is not going to be easy. You have to take pride in the place. Never again will anyone offer you to sell the entire building." "I understand. Let it be this way. When I retire, your name will be taken off the shop." "No, it is not necessary that you do that. That would be foolish. There will be no change, no improvement, and so on, and so the name should not be removed. It is not an invitation for someone to come here and buy the entire place, which might lead to undesirable complications. The name will only remain to remind us of our past association, so that we will know that we once owned and operated the shop, for whatever purpose." "The point you make is well taken. I think you have spoken rightly. This way it shall be." "Good. You are dismissed." "Wait," said the shopkeeper. "I had a special reason for coming. This bicycle of mine is the third. This morning, I received a phone call from another, younger man. You see, he lives in my apartment house. He has always been a steady customer. Today, his bicycle was stolen, and he came to me, as everyone does, to purchase a new one. He had decided to wait until he was sixty-four before making such a purchase. As you know, that would be an even bigger gift from me. I was able to give him the bicycle he wanted, and because he did not need it today, he put it on my credit. It is this way, that we must take care of such things as they occur. This way, you can tell your son, that you are retiring, and then find something else to do, but at the same time do what you can to help another man." "Good, you will make your decision," said M.H. "You will be given a raise in this way." "That is understood." "Then that is settled. Remember, however, that you do not wish to retire for fifty years from now. It must be understood that once you retire, you will never again be given any raise, either at the same time or later on. It is for this reason that you are not receiving any salary now." "I understand. You are a very thoughtful man." "I must now tell you of the fourth bicycle. This will be given to someone who wishes to leave this place and who is not happy here. He too will continue to operate his business from his office, and he will not be asked to do anything to make himself feel comfortable. The shopkeeper said this to the new bicycle owner, but he is not happy." "I see. Will this present be given only when a person quits?" "That is true. It is a one-time thing. When someone is no longer satisfied here and decides that he would like to leave, this particular bike will be brought out and presented to him. It will be given by me, and so you need not know the present giver, for he will not be mentioned by name. You need only to see the one who is given the bicycle and then follow after the present giver. Should you hear a bell, you will know the bike is coming. You will have the name of the giver, that is all." "I understand the way this is to be done." "You will hear the bell ring and you will understand the gesture." "I understand." "Good. You are dismissed." "Am I to be dismissed?" "Yes, you are to be given the key." "What is going to happen to the bicycle?" "You will know of this bicycle." "I see. I will not be told anything about the bicycle that I have just received?" "It will be a surprise to you, as are all of your surprises. Each present is a complete surprise, which is a requirement. It is to be delivered by your son, and you must know that the present giver will be in his place. If you leave and are gone for a year or more, a second one-year period will occur for you to make use of the gift. If you choose not to leave, then you are responsible for the gift, and this is how you will be able to return it. Do not forget to keep the gift as a reminder of how you had been presented with the bicycle, but do not forget also that you must return it. This will be an interesting experiment to test your generosity and your generosity for the one who was given the bicycle. If he receives his bicycle and leaves, you can give it to someone else, but then the original bicycle maker will have already been given another bicycle, and you will not have any further chance to give it away. So, in a way, there is no way to give it away more than once. This will prove interesting." "I see. I am to have no say in this?" "Absolutely no say. You are to be given the key to your present, and you are to return it in its proper place. You will give away a bicycle, which will be a test of character and your generosity. For this reason, there can be no further giving of this bike. I must therefore ask that you accept my gift by leaving your shop for good. When you retire, as you must now, you will be the owner of the shop. Your son will have possession of the shop." "And so I am dismissed?" "Yes, and so you will be dismissed." "I think I understand. And when is it that I am to retire?" "Not for quite a long time. Remember that there will only be ten percent raises each year, for a total of fifty raises. There are fifty years to retire. It is fifty years that will pass by. This way, it will take a lot of time for you to reach your retirement age. You are sixty-two years old, which means that your retirement age is seventy-two." "I see. That sounds more like something I can understand." "You will retire in twenty years." "I see. So, it will be ten years from now?" "Yes. In twenty years." "Then I will retire at the age of seventy-two." "You have understood correctly. You will then receive a ten percent increase in your income. "I have been given ten percent." "Yes. And so you will not leave your shop until you retire." "That is true. Then, I do not need to work for a ten percent raise?" "No. Because you have always been working for the same wage. I am looking at your record books. You will find that from your work, you have never received a salary." "That is true. I did not know." "I have made it so that you never had one." "I understand. It is strange, but I am pleased." "The shopkeeper understood your needs." "He understands my needs." "It is so. And when you retire, you will receive a ten percent raise." "Thank you, sir. I am pleased to hear this." "I do not blame you for wanting to retire." "I have always been happy working for you, and I believe I have gained my position on this shop. I never dreamed that you would retire, or that I would retire either." "You have never realized it, but I have been watching you grow, watching you become a man. You have grown here, and you are a man who has seen many events. It has been a good experience for you. You