Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)
407. THE MAN AND HIS GOLD
Perry 225 (Chambry
344 *)
There was a miser who sold his property and bought a lump of gold. The
man then buried his gold just outside the city walls, where he constantly
went to visit and inspect it. One of the workmen noticed the man's behaviour
and suspected the truth. Accordingly, after the man had gone away, he
took the gold. When the man came back and found that the hiding place
was empty, he began to cry and tear his hair. Someone saw the man's extravagant
grief and asked him what was wrong. Then he said to the man, 'Enough of
your grieving! Take a stone and put it where the gold was, and make believe
the gold is still there: it's not as if you ever made any use of it!'
The story shows that there is no point in owning something unless you
put it to good use.
Source:
Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura
Gibbs.
Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New
cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.
|