There was a poor man who had very little. A wealthy woman took pity on him and decided to give him an opportunity to improve his circumstances.
She gave him a cow and encouraged him to clear some land. When spring arrived, he could plant crops, she told him, and by autumn he might finally begin to leave poverty behind.
Filled with hope, the man set to work.
Before long, however, he encountered a problem. The cow needed grass, while he himself still needed food. Instead of making life easier, the new responsibility seemed to make his immediate hardships even greater.
So he came up with another plan.
He sold the cow and bought several sheep. He could slaughter one for food, he reasoned, while allowing the others to reproduce. Once there were more sheep, he could sell them and make money.
At first, the plan seemed promising. But the sheep did not reproduce as quickly as he had hoped, and hunger soon became a problem again. Unable to endure the hardship, he slaughtered another sheep.
Then he changed plans once more.
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