There was once upon a time a poor shoemaker who was always gay. He seemed so happy that from morning until night he sang of joy. Many children always gathered near the window of his house and listened to him carefully. Sometimes even the birds gathered to listen to him.
A rich man lived near his house. This man did not sleep all night because he always counted his money. Only in the morning he went to sleep. But during day he could not sleep because he heard the shoemaker singing and envy killed him as he could not imagine how a poor man could be gay.
One day he got an idea, a cunning thought whispered to his ear how to make the shoemaker stop singing. He invited him to his house and to his great surprise the poor man received from him a purse with golden coins.
When the shoemaker arrived at home he opened the purse. He had never seen so much money. He started to count it carefully and his children watched him carefullt. The money was so much that the shoemaker was afraid someone might have stolen it. Because of this reason he took the money with him in bed. But even there he thought about it and he could not sleep.
Then he took the purse with money in his attic but he did not feel that place was safe either. Early in the morning he woke up and took the money and put it in the hen-coop. But he was not content of that place either and after some time he dug a pit and buried there the purse with golden money in the earth.
Knowing he was rich he could not sleep anymore and he did not work anymore and he did not sing anymore, he was always with his mind at his treasure.
Because of this reason he was anxious, pale and tormented by thoughts. Neither the children nor the birds came to visit him anymore.
Thus the shoemaker became very unhappy. What to do?
One day he shoemaker took the money purse and gave it back to the rich man.
`Please take back the money`, he said. The worry for it made me sick and my friends don`t want to hear about me anymore.
I want to be a poor shoemaker as I used to be.
From that moment on happiness returned to the house of the shoemaker.
MORAL: Money doesn`t bring happiness. You are happy when you have exactly as much as you need, not more.
