'That day ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had bestowed many sixpences, and people had come from…

'That day ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had bestowed many sixpences, and people had come from the neighboring villages, bringing their children to receive the blessing from "the holy Man" -- and of course the sixpences! About nine o'clock in the evening the ladies decided that no one else must see ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that night. But as they waited outside the cottage, a man came up the path, carrying one baby, and with others clinging to him. When he asked for "the holy Man", however, he was told severely that he could not be seen, he was very tired and had gone to bed. The man sighed, as he said, "Oh, I have walked six miles from far away to see Him. I am so sorry!" 'The hostess responded severely, feeling that the desire for sixpences had prompted the journey perhaps more than religious enthusiasm, and the man sighed more deeply than ever, and was turning away, when suddenly ‘Abdu’l-Bahá came around the corner of the house. The way in which he embraced the man and all the babies was so wonderful, that the hearts of the too careful friends melted within them, and when he at last sent away the unbidden guests, comforted, their hearts full of joy, their hands bursting with sixpences, the two friends looked at one another and said: "How wrong we were! We will never again try to manage ‘Abdu’l-Bahá!"

Source: Honnold, Annamarie, Vignettes from the Life of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 73

Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: hospitality).

Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/hospitality