The Story Behind!
You don’t have to wait for the bluebird of happiness to fly by! Sometimes it’s enough to grab more gold and ride off into the sunset with the smartest donkey around.
The Rich Miser
Bill worked in Johnson’s mine – a notorious miser who was stingy with every cent. At the same time, he was wealthy. Johnson owned a mine where a gold-bearing vein was found.
Naturally, the businessman immediately hired workers – simple guys like Bill – and ordered them to work hard.
Everyone Gets a Day Off!
The laborers mined gold six days a week. Johnson tried to take away their only day off, but the miners rebelled, declaring they would blow up the tunnel and block it with stones to hell if the cursed rich man didn’t leave the guys at least one day of rest. After all, they needed to drink properly and spend their earned money on various pleasures; otherwise, why work so hard…
Nothing Can be Stolen Here…
Johnson didn’t spend any money on tools. The workers carried the gold themselves because they had no transport. They simply removed the carts from the mine, transferred the gold into bags, and carried it on their shoulders, wishing their employer to go to hell.
Naturally, they were watched – a couple of lookouts hired by Johnson guarded the nuggets. The workers could not steal anything right under the stingy businessman’s nose, no matter how much they wanted to.
When Your Best Friend is a Donkey
One fine day, the miners rebelled again. They demanded some kind of transport from Johnson! The owner compromised and bought each worker a cart pulled by a donkey.
Bill was lucky – he got a talking donkey! It must be said, he turned out to be an excellent animal!
The Cunning Plan
One day the donkey said that everyone here deserved more. Especially Bill and himself. The donkey suggested carefully tearing a corner of the bag and unfolding it so Johnson’s lookouts wouldn’t see a thing. While the gold nuggets spilled out, Bill should grab as much as possible and stuff it into his pockets.
And the donkey knows exactly how to stand and turn so that Johnson’s guys don’t see anything extra. As for the torn bag, no complaints – they should have bought decent ones instead of saving on everything…
What it Feels Like to Cry from Greed
So that’s what they did. Bill stuffed gold everywhere he could. About a quarter of the bag spilled out, no less! Of course, Johnson would notice, but as the smart and enterprising donkey said, who really cares!
The boss flew into a rage. The next morning, he showed up at the mine and tried to find out whose bag had a torn corner. Along the way, he stumbled upon gold dust scattered along the road and collected everything he could, shedding tears of greed.
Oh, Something’s Fishy Here!
No one confessed. Johnson, furious, decided to fire everyone. Then Bill honestly admitted whose bag it was – he didn’t want to betray the others. The owner ordered him to work in the mine without days off for the next ten years, hoping to somehow compensate for the losses!
Bill waved it off and told Johnson to go to hell. He simply quit. Of course, Bill took the donkey with him – you can’t leave such a friend behind! And he paid for him. Johnson was first surprised at how easily the worker gave up his job, then suspected something was wrong when Bill paid for the donkey with a gold nugget. But those were his problems now! Bill’s happy life awaits, full of idleness, whiskey, and not the most chaste women…
