The Miser and His Gold
- 2 minute read
- Ages 7-11
- Aesop's Fables
A miser sold everything he had and bought a lump of gold with the money.
He did not spend it. He did not lend it or invest it or buy anything with it. He dug a hole at the bottom of his garden, beside the wall, and buried it there.
Every evening he went out to the wall, dug it up, held it, looked at it, and buried it again.
He did this for years. It was the best part of his day.
The hole
A workman noticed the miser going to the same spot every evening and became curious.
One night he went into the garden himself with a spade, found the loose earth by the wall, dug down, and took the gold away.
The next evening the miser came out as usual and found an open hole with nothing in it.
He shouted. He tore his hair. He sat down in the dirt and wept, and the noise brought his neighbours over the wall to see what had happened.
The neighbour's advice
He told them. All of it, several times.
One of the neighbours listened to the whole thing and then asked a question.
"When you had the gold — did you ever spend any of it?"
"Spend it?" said the miser. "Never a coin of it."
"Were you ever going to?"
The miser did not answer.
"Then put a stone in the hole," said the neighbour, "and bury that, and come out every evening and look at it. It will do you exactly as much good as the gold did."
Moral of the story
Something you never use is worth nothing to you, whatever it is worth to anyone else. Owning is not the same as having.
Questions and answers
- What did the miser do with his money?
He sold everything he owned, bought a lump of gold, and buried it in a hole at the bottom of his garden.
- What was his daily routine?
Every evening he dug up the gold, held it, looked at it, and buried it again.
- How was the gold stolen?
A workman noticed him visiting the same spot each evening, came at night with a spade and dug it up.
- What did the neighbour suggest?
Burying a stone in the hole instead, since looking at a stone would give him exactly what the gold had given him.
- Why is the neighbour's advice fair?
Because the miser never intended to spend the gold. Its value to him was only in looking at it, and a stone would serve that purpose equally well.
Word meanings
- miser
- A person who hoards money and hates spending it.
- invest
- To put money into something hoping it will grow.
- spade
- A tool with a flat blade for digging.
- wept
- Cried.
Questions about The Miser and His Gold
What is the moral of The Miser and His Gold?
The moral is that possessions you never use have no real value to you. The miser lost nothing he was actually using.
Is the neighbour being cruel?
He is being blunt rather than cruel. He is pointing out that what the miser lost was the ritual of looking, not the gold itself.
What does 'miser' mean?
Someone who hoards money and refuses to spend it, even on things they need.
How can children apply this fable?
It works well for talking about toys or gifts kept in a box unopened, or savings kept for a purpose that never arrives.