This story is a prologue to Wendell Mettey’s book, On Which Side of the Road do the Flowers Grow? – a compilation of true stories on life, love and loss, and one which I greatly enjoyed.

There once lived a very unhappy man who was a carrier of water. He hated carrying water and despised his master for giving him such a lowly job. “Carrying water is a job for women,” he complained. “It certainly is not a job for a strong and capable servant.” To escape the giggling and whispers of the women who g...