Week 5 Story: The Tale of the Rothchild Hiest

The Woolworth Building in New York City. (Source: Picryl )

The Five Points, New York City. 1921.

"Extra! Extra! Read all about it!" Cried the little newspaper boy on the corner where Cross Street and Orange Street meet. "Rothchild builds new bank!" An old man in a coat and hat flips the child a coin and picks up the newspaper with the headline "Rothchild Hits it Big, Plans For New Bank," he smirked as he read the paper and made his way down the street to his store. There was a smiling young man in the store as he entered. "Hello, Tony. Are the men waiting in the back for me?" "Of course, sir. Don't youse worry, I can look afta this place whiles youse and ya guys have ya meetin'." Mister Fauci clapped him on the shoulder and made his way to the back of the store to his office. "I'm tellin' ya, Lorenzo, dad's gonna get it big on this one!" Two big brawny young men were arguing as Mister Fauci walked into the office. "Boys! It's fine. Lorenzo and Vincenzo, I already told ya, you aren't involved with this. I promised ya ma. Now go help Tony in the store while I talk to the guys." The two sons mumbled as they were kicked out of the office. "Now let's get down to doing real business. The big words on the street that money bags Rothchild is building a new bank to hold all his money in. But he's looking for a decent building crew. And who knows how to build a better rock-solid building than me and youse guys?" He explained to a bunch of middle-aged men excitedly. "We go and build the bank for him, all the while we's plannin' our own way in nice and easy to the money." He finished with a confident smirk. "This payday will pay our retirement boys!" He stated loudly. "But boss, how we gonna get those fancy buildin' jobs anyhow?" One man in the corner of the room questioned. "I got the connections. Leave that to me, boys. Youse just shows up tomorrow mornin' ready to work." He ordered and ended the meeting.

The next day, all the men and a few others Mister Fauci had hired on showed up to work at the bank's building site. "Tell, Mista Rothchild he's got nothin' to worry about with me and my guys on the job!" Mister Fauci explained to the assistant who showed up to meet with him in the morning. He shook hands with them and they got to work. They worked on the huge building for the next three years. Even with the long timeline, they made fast progress. While running the construction site, Mister Fauci and his three closest men in his gang built in a secret passageway that just by moving a couple of stones, a person gained entrance into the building. 

While business remained good and the plan was on schedule, things in the Fauci home were not going well. Mister Fauci had been getting sicker and weaker. It worried his wife and sons constantly, but he wouldn't let it stop him from carrying out the job.  The day and night they moved all the Rothchilds' fortune into the bank vaults, Mister Fauci's life was coming to an end in their little home in the Five Points of New York City. "Boys, I gotta tell ya where the secret entrance is. So youse can get the money and take care of ya Ma for me." He said weakly and then told Lorenzo and Vincenzo where it was. He passed away in the loving presence of his family and was given a proper funeral.

In the weeks after their father's funeral, the brothers took up the family business and the plans their father had laid out. They got with their father's trusted guys and planned the whole heist out in a meeting. So they made their way to the bank in the middle of the night along empty streets. The two brothers moved the stones and went in and grabbed all the money they could carry in their sacks. While leaving Vincenzo said, "Wait, I think I saw something else back there," as he headed in the other direction. "No, wait! That's not part of the plan!" Lorenzo yelled out. When he went after him he saw that he had been caught in a trap. Vincenzo was crying out, "Lorenzo, there's no reason for youse to be caught too! Ya gotta get home to Ma! Shoot me now, so's they don't catch you! I don't wanna go into prison with all of dad's and our family's enemies waiting for me!" He begged Lorenzo, and his brother seeing no other way, shot him and quickly left the building. 

For weeks, the police looked for the thieves while the Fauci family mourned in secret. Mr. Rothchild was at his wits end on who could have come up with such a scheme to fool such a powerful and wise man as him. He went over the plans of the building and could not find a trace of how someone had pulled off such a grand thing. He started to be impressed and realized he could turn this into his own good fortune, were he to have someone like this in his employment. He paid off the legal system and the police and had the newspapers publish a new article. This article explained that he would grant pardon to whoever committed the crime if only he would come forward and meet with Rothchild. Lorenzo, full of grief and guilt for his brother, came forward. When he met with Rothchild though, he was completely surprised. Rothchild welcomed him and said, "Here is a talented man who is deserving of a job and title!" He gave him a prestigious position right then and there. Later, Lorenzo also married Rothchild's oldest daughter and became his heir. He provided for his Ma and lived a good life. 

Story Source:

Egyptian Myth and Legend by Donald Mackenzie (1907). 

Author's Note:

For my retelling this week, I chose the story of "The Tale of King Rhampsinitus" in Egyptian mythology. The actual tale is of a wealthy king who builds an impenetrable fortress for all of his fortunes. One of the builders slyly leaves a stone loose that only he knows about. When this builder is on his death bed he tells his two sons of it and they steal from the king. The tale goes on to tell about the death of one son and how the other son continues to trick the king and impresses him enough, that the king gives him his daughter in marriage. I thought it was really interesting that the son, after all, he stole and tricked the king, still was rewarded for his slyness. I thought that this kind of mutual respect would go well in the 1920s where there was a lot of criminal activity going on, not just in the slums, but also among the upper classes, as well. I also did a bit of research and based part of the story on the historic Five Points area in NYC, which was at the time known for being the slums. Many immigrants lived there and there was a lot of Mafia activity going on. I really went very far away from the Egyptian mythology part and only really kept the basic tale of it, but I hope you still enjoy it! :) And, comments and constructive criticisms are always helpful! TIA! :)