The million pound banknote

I did not lose a moment. I pushed the money into my vest pocket, and ran to the nearest cheap eating house. Well, how I ate! At last I couldn't hold any more food. Then I took out my money and unfolded it. I had one glimpse and I nearly fainted. It was a million pounds. That was five million dollars! It made me giddy to think about it.

I was so astonished that I must have sat there for almost a minute blinking at the banknote. When I remembered where I was, the first thing I noticed was the landlord. He had seen the banknote, and it seemed as though the sight had turned him to stone. He was worshipping the banknote with all his body and soul, but he couldn't move a hand or foot. At that moment I knew what I should do. It was the only logical thing I could do. I passed the note to him, and said carelessly 'Give me the change, please.'

Then he came back to normal. He made a thousand apologies for not being able to give me so much change. I couldn't get him to touch the banknote. He wanted to look at it all the time. He couldn't seem to get enough of looking at it, but he would not touch it. It was as if it was something too precious for his poor human hands to touch. I said 'I am sorry if this is a bit of a problem for you, but I must insist. Please change it, I haven't anything else.'