The Nail
A merchant had done good business at the fair and had earned a lot of money. Then he wanted to travel home, and wanted to be in his own house before the night fell. So he packed his trunk with the money on his horse, and rode away.
At noon he rested in a town, and when he wanted to go further the stable-boy brought out his horse and said,
“A nail is wanting, sir, in the shoe of its left foot.“
“Let it be,“
answered the merchant;
“the shoe will certainly stay on for the six miles I have still to go. I am in a hurry.“
In the afternoon, when he once more alighted and had his horse fed, the stable-boy went into the room to him and said,
“Sir, a shoe is missing from your horse’s left hind foot. Shall I take him to the blacksmith?“
“Let it be,“
answered the man;
“the horse can very well hold out for the couple of miles which remain. I am in a hurry.“
He rode on, but before long the horse began to limp. It had not limped long before it began to stumble and couldn‘t go on. The merchant was forced to leave the horse where it was, and unbuckle the trunk, take it on his back, and go home on foot. And there he did not arrive until quite late at night.
“And that unlucky nail,“
he said to himself,
“has caused all this disaster.“
Make haste slowly.
