A tale is told of man who put all his money in a pot and buried it. He told no one about the pot, never visited, and lived his life as if it were not there, until one day he came across a man weeping at the side of the road. He asked the man what had happened and the man told him the walls and roof of his house had collapsed in the recent storms, and that his store of grain had been ruined.

The wealthy man immediately thought of his pot of gold. He took his leave and went to where it had been buried. When he found it still there, he fell to his knees and hugged the pot as if his life depended on it. He may even have shed a tear, or so the story goes. Then he buried the pot again and carried on his way.

© Richard Parkin 2025

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