The Miser and His Gold? Was the Miser a Rich Man Or a Poor Man? Why?

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Unit Unit Unit Unit 3 The8 Miser3 8 and Unit Unit Unit Unit

4 (BasedHis9 on anGold4 Aesop Fable)9

by Ann Gianola Unit Unit Unit Unit 5 Illustrated10 by José5 Luis Navarro10

21 22 An old Miser had a fortune—one hundred pieces of gold! He had buried it in a secret place next to the oldest and wisest tree in his garden. Every day, the old man went to the garden and dug up the treasure. And every day the wise old tree saw him and thought to itself: Here he comes again, that stingy old man! Then the Miser counted his gold piece by piece to make sure it was all there. As he counted, he admired his riches lovingly and said: “Oh my precious gold, here you are! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight … one hundred!” After counting the gold, the Miser buried it again in the same place next to the tree and went back to his house and to his wife.

miser n.–a person who hates to spend any money gold n.–a yellow metal that is very valuable and that is often used to make jewelry bury v.–to hide in the ground wise adj.–having knowledge from experiencing many things dig v.–to move earth (or other soft material such as sand, snow, etc.) to create a hole stingy adj.–not liking to spend or give money

23 The old Miser’s wife was very unhappy. One day, when he got home after counting his gold, she said to him: “Old man, just look at our clothes. They’re rags! And look at our house. It’s falling down! The walls have cracks! The windows are broken! The roof has leaks!” “Nonsense!” said the old Miser. “Don’t forget that we are rich—we have one hundred pieces of gold!” “Rich?” said the Miser’s wife. “We are starving! There is nothing to eat today. There was nothing to eat yesterday. And if you don’t bring back at least one piece of gold, there will be nothing to eat tomorrow either!”

rags n. –clothes that are so old that they are no longer in a good condition crack n. –a thin line that is broken leak n.–a hole in something that lets something such as water pass in or out starve v. –to die from lack of food

24 The next day, as usual, the Miser walked toward the tree. Here he is again, thought the wise old tree. But a thief was hiding in the garden. He was waiting to see what the old man did there every day. “… ninety-nine, one hundred!” said the old man as he finished counting. “My beautiful, wonderful gold!” The thief waited for the old man to leave. Then he started digging. He stole every piece of the Miser’s gold and ran off with it. At home, the Miser’s wife asked the old man if he had brought back some gold. “No, my dear,” he said. “I will not spend a single gold coin.” The Miser’s wife was furious.

thief n.–a person who steals

25 The next day, when the Miser walked out to the tree, he got a terrible shock. There was a big hole in the earth and all his gold was gone! “My one hundred pieces of gold!” said the old man. “What will I do now? Now I have nothing!” Two neighbors heard the Miser and ran to help him. “What has happened?” they asked. “All my gold has gone!” cried the Miser. “What gold?” asked one of the neighbors, puzzled. “I worked hard all my life and kept my gold next to the tree. I thought it was safe there!” the Miser explained. “I always thought you were very poor,” said one of the neighbors. “He is, poor, NOW.” said the other.

puzzled adj.–confused because something is difficult to understand

26 The Miser walked home sadly. His wife opened the door. When she saw his face, the old woman asked the Miser what had happened. The old man sat down, put his head in his hands and started crying pitifully. “A thief stole all my gold,” sobbed the old man. “Now we are the poorest people in the town,” he said. “We have always been the poorest people in the town,” said the old woman, “with or without your gold.” Then the old miser’s wife took him by the arm and pulled him outside. They went to the spot where the gold had been buried.

pitifully adv.–in a way that causes pity or sympathy sob v.–to cry noisily taking in big breaths

27 When the old man saw the empty hole again, he fell to the ground in despair. His wife looked around the garden. Then she started to collect small stones from the ground. As she picked them up, she counted: “twenty-three, twenty-four, twenty-five…” “What are you doing?” asked the Miser. “Those stones are not worth anything. They cannot replace my gold.” He said. But the old woman ignored her husband and continued collecting stones. “And… one hundred.” She said finally.

despair n.–the feeling of having no hope

28 Then she dropped the stones into the hole one by one and covered them with earth. “You stingy old man,” she said. “You never used your gold, so these stones have exactly the same value as the gold. Our possessions are not worth anything if we don’t use them.” So every day after that, to make himself feel better, the old man went to the garden, dug up the stones and counted them. And every day, the wise old tree thought to itself: Here he comes again, that stingy old man!

Moral A possession is worth no more than the use we make of it.

worth adj.–having monetary or material value

29 After Reading

Discuss with a classmate.

What is the moral of The Miser and His Gold? Was the Miser a rich man or a poor man? Why?

The Miser and His Gold is a fable from Aesop. Here are some more fables from Aesop. Do some research online to find out what the stories are about and what morals they teach. https://owlcation.com/humanities/fables- • The Hare and the Tortoise • The Fox and the Crow • The Ant and the Grasshopper