The Miser and His Gold
Aesop's Fables

There was a miser who had sold most of his possessions for a large sack of gold. Instead of using the gold, either for himself or to help others, he buried it under a tree in his garden.

Everyday, he would go out to the tree, dig up his gold and count each piece, gloating over the fact that he had this much wealth. And each day, when he was done, he would bury the gold once more.

Well, one day a thief saw the miser go through this ritual and he waited until all was clear. Then the thief snuck over to the tree, dug up the gold, and ran off into the night.

The next day, the miser arrived and saw that his precious treasure was gone... stolen from the base of the tree. He started pulling at his hair and wailing about his loss.

The neighbors came running to see what was wrong. When the told them about the gold, one man asked, "Well, did you spend the money or use it for anything?"

"No," replied the miser, "I only dug it up to count it and look at it."

"Well then," came the reply. "Here is a large rock. Why not bury that in place of the gold, for it will do you about as much good."

Moral of The Miser: Something that is never used is worthless.

Holding on to things that you never use is a useless practice. Why do you have the object if you never allow yourself or others to enjoy its function or purpose?

Where would you like to go now?

The Dog and The Shadow is another good Aesop fable that shows us what can happen when we're greedy and not willing to share.

Previous Tale: The Mischievous Dog
Next Tale: The Stag at the Pool

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