A Lazy Man's Plot
: Moderation and Greed: Laos Folk-lore Of Farther India
Upon a day a beggar, who was too lazy to work, but ever lived on the
bounty of the people, received a great quantity of rice. He put it in a
large jar and placed the jar at the foot of his bed, then he lay down on
the bed and thus reasoned:
"If there come a famine, I will sell the rice, and with the money, buy
me a pair of cows, and when the cows have a calf, I'll buy a pair of
buffaloes. Then, when they have a calf, I'll sell them, and with that
money, I'll make a wedding and take me a wife. And, when we have a child
large enough to sit alone, I'll take care of it, while my wife works the
rice fields. Should she say, 'I will not work,' I'll kick her after this
manner," and he struck out his foot, knocking the jar over, and broke
it. The rice ran through the slats of the floor, and the neighbors' pigs
ate it, leaving the lazy plotter but the broken jar.
15: The motive corresponds to that of the venerable story of the
Milkmaid.
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