An AVFC Fable

villa2stoke1 offers this fable to the Villa faithful!

A new fable by the great writer Aesop has been discovered. Here it is.

Once upon a time there was a rich man who bought a house. It was a fine old house but rather run down. The rich man decided to spend a lot of money on it and make it the most beautiful house in the land. So he spent a lot of money and the house indeed became beautiful, although not quite as beautiful as the man had hoped.

Then one day he went into his office and counted his money. He was shocked. There was so little! So he thought, I will spend no more on the house. And he consoled himself, saying ‘It is a beautiful house which I can sell for a fortune whenever I wish.’

In the first year after he stopped spending, the paint peeled and the garden became overgrown, but he knew he could still sell the house for a fortune whenever he wished. Then the wind blew slates off the roof, but he was not alarmed, because the house was surely still worth a fortune and he could sell it whenever he wished. Then the rain entered through the leaking windows and rotted the timbers, but he har! dly noticed because the house was worth a fortune and could be sold whenever he wished. To be honest, he was getting a little tired of the house. Then the house fell down and it was worthless. All this time there were mice living in the basement, little creatures of no consequence. When the house collapsed, many of them left, but some remained, huddled together in the ruin of their house.

They said, ‘We would like to go but cannot, for we would leave our hearts behind us.’ Meanwhile, the man lamented, saying ‘If only I had spent more wisely at the beginning I could have afforded to maintain it later and I would still have a nice house, even if it were not the most beautiful in the land.’