The Nail

Once, there was a merchant who had set up at a grand faire. This merchant was not an evil man, but he was a hasty, and somewhat shortsighted, man. Very early on the last day of the faire he found that he had completely sold out all of his merchandise. He looked at the sky,and thought to himself "If I leave the workers to pack up the tents and tables in the wagon, and I ride my horse with the money I have made. I could just make it home before dark". This was very risky however, for the woods and roads outside the town were dangerous after sunset. The woods were filled with bandits and, dangerous animals like wolves and bears. The merchant ignored these dangers and gathering his earnings, packed his saddlebags, and galloped off.

Mid morning he stopped at a roadside inn, because horses cannot run forever without rest,water, and food. He told the stable boy to water, feed and brush down the horse and to get him as soon as the horse was ready. He was in a great hurry and had no time to waste if he was to make it home before nightfall.

The stable boy came and got the merchant a short while later"The horse is ready to go except for one thing" the stable boy exclaimed "there is a loose nail on one of the horseshoes. Let me take the horse down to the blacksmith,and have him pound the nail in. it won't cost more than a couple of copper coins,or take more than a few minutes, and you can then be on your way."

"NO!" shouted the merchant " I have no time to waste. If the nail has stayed on this long, it will be fine until I get home, But if I take the time to wait for the blacksmith to fix it I won't make it home before dark." He then Jumped on his horse and began to ride off quickly down the road.

Later, in the afternoon, the merchant again stopped to rest and water his horse. he gave the stable boy the same instructions as before "stable boy! come here! Quickly as you can groom and water my horse. as soon as he is ready come get me. I am in a great hurry!!"

A short while later, the stable came up to the merchant. "Your horse is ready" he said "except for one small thing. There is a nail missing out of one of his shoes,and several of the others are coming loose. Let me take him down the road to the blacksmith and have him re-shoe that hoof. It won't take more than a handful of silver coins, and a half hour or so of your time. If you don't do it the horse could lose the shoe and could go lame"

"NO!" shouted the merchant " I have no time to waste. If the nail has stayed on this long, it will be fine until I get home, But if I take the time to wait for the blacksmith to fix it I won't make it home before dark." He then Jumped on his horse and began to ride off quickly down the road.

Then, much later in the afternoon, tragedy struck! The horse ran over a rock in the road and began to limp. The merchant thought that maybe if he got off the horse and walked alongside, the horse would be able to go on. The weight of all those coins in his saddlebag was too much though. He had to leave the horse by the side of the road,and he carried those heavy saddlebags full of coins himself the last several miles to his house. needles to say he was very tired,hungry and much past dark before he made it home. not to mention lucky to have not been robbed by bandits, or eaten by bears in the dark.. No one knows what happened to the horse. All because the wealthy merchant wouldn't stop for a nail

THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS;
IF YOU MUST MAKE HASTE, DO SO SLOWLY.