The Miser

A Miser had a lump of gold which he buried in the ground, coming to look at the spot every day. One day he found that it was stolen, and he began to tear his hair and loudly lament.

A neighbor, seeing him, said: "Pray do not grieve so; bury a stone in the hole, and fancy it is the gold. It will serve you just as well, for when the gold was there you made no use of it."

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The Hen and the Golden Eggs

A Cottager and his wife had a Hen, which laid every day a golden egg.

They supposed that it must contain a great lump of gold in its inside, and killed it in order that they might get it, when, to their surprise, they found that the Hen differed in no respect from their other hens.

The foolish pair, thus hoping to become rich all at once, deprived themselves of the gain of which they were day by day assured.

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