The Miser and his Gold (or Treasure) is one of Aesop's Fables that deals directly with human weaknesses, in this case the wrong use of possessions. Since this is a story dealing only with humans, it allows the point to be made directly through the medium of speech rather than be surmised from the situation. It is numbered 225 in the Perry Index.[1]
Parable of the Hidden Treasure by Rembrandt (c. 1630)
The basic story concerns a miser who reduced his riches to a lump of gold, which he buried. Coming back to view it every day, he was spied on and his treasure stolen. As the man bewailed his loss, he was consoled by a neighbour that he might as well bury a stone (or return to look at the hole) and it would serve the same purpose for all the good his money had done him or that he had done with his money.
Since versions of the fable were confined to Greek, it only began to gain greater currency during the European Renaissance. Gabriele Faerno made it the subject of a Latin poem in his Centum Fabulae (1563).[2] In England it was included in collections of Aesop's fables by Roger L'Estrange as "A miser burying his gold"[3] and by Samuel Croxall as "The covetous man".[4]
Appreciating the cut and thrust of the argument, the composer Jerzy Sapieyevski included the fable as the fourth his Aesop Suite (1984), set for brass quintet and narrator, as an example of how 'musical elements lurk in gifted oratorical arguments'.[5]
Alternative versionsedit
The story was made the occasion for commenting on the proper use of riches by authors in both the East and the West. In Saadi Shirazi's Bostan (The Garden, 1257), the Persian poet retells it as “A miserly father and his prodigal son”.[6] The son spies on his father to discover where he has hidden his wealth, digs it up and substitutes a stone. When the father finds that it has all been squandered, his son declares that spending is what money is for, otherwise it is as useless as a stone. A similar variant is told by Vasily Maykov, where a man living in the miser's house (possibly a relative of his and possibly not) is tired of living as a pauper, so he substitutes the gold in his sacks for sand.[7] A folk variant told about Nasreddin has him settle in a city where people boast of the pots full of gold they have stored at home. In turn, he starts boasting of his own pots, which he has filled with pebbles, asking when found out, "Since the jars were covered and idle, what difference in the least does it make what might be inside them?".[8][9]
In La Fontaine's Fables, where the fable appears as L'avare qui a perdu son trésor (IV.20), the story is made the occasion for a meditation on the nature of ownership. It begins with the statement 'Possessions have no value till we use them' and uses the story as an illustration of someone who is owned by the gold rather than being its owner.[10] In Germany, Gotthold Ephraim Lessing gave the ending an additional twist in his retelling. What drives the miser to distraction, in addition to his loss, is that someone else is the richer for it.[11]
Meanwhile, a parallel fable had entered European literature based upon a symmetrical two-line epigram in the Greek Anthology, once ascribed to Plato but more plausibly to Statillius Flaccus. A man, intending to hang himself, discovered hidden gold and left the rope behind him; the man who had hidden the gold, not finding it, hanged himself with the noose he found in its place.[12] The 3rd century CE Latin poet Ausonius made a four-line version,[13] the Tudor poet Thomas Wyatt extended this to eight lines[14] and the ElizabethanGeorge Turberville to twelve.[15] Early in the 17th century, John Donne alluded to the story and reduced it to a couplet again:
The longest telling and interpretation of the episode was in the 76 lines of Guillaume Guéroult's First Book of Emblems (1550) under the title "Man proposes but God disposes".[17] In the following century, La Fontaine added this story too to his Fables as the lengthy "The treasure and the two men" (IX.15) in which the miser finds comfort in the thought that at least he is hanging himself at another's expense.[18]
^"Jean de La Fontaine's Fable Poem: The Treasure And The Two Men". readbookonline.org.
External linksedit
15th-20th century illustrations from books
May 02, 2024
miser, gold, treasure, aesop, fables, that, deals, directly, with, human, weaknesses, this, case, wrong, possessions, since, this, story, dealing, only, with, humans, allows, point, made, directly, through, medium, speech, rather, than, surmised, from, situati. The Miser and his Gold or Treasure is one of Aesop s Fables that deals directly with human weaknesses in this case the wrong use of possessions Since this is a story dealing only with humans it allows the point to be made directly through the medium of speech rather than be surmised from the situation It is numbered 225 in the Perry Index 1 Contents 1 Aesop s Fable 2 Alternative versions 3 References 4 External linksAesop s Fable edit nbsp Parable of the Hidden Treasure by Rembrandt c 1630 The basic story concerns a miser who reduced his riches to a lump of gold which he buried Coming back to view it every day he was spied on and his treasure stolen As the man bewailed his loss he was consoled by a neighbour that he might as well bury a stone or return to look at the hole and it would serve the same purpose for all the good his money had done him or that he had done with his money Since versions of the fable were confined to Greek it only began to gain greater currency during the European Renaissance Gabriele Faerno made it the subject of a Latin poem in his Centum Fabulae 1563 2 In England it was included in collections of Aesop s fables by Roger L Estrange as A miser burying his gold 3 and by Samuel Croxall as The covetous man 4 Appreciating the cut and thrust of the argument the composer Jerzy Sapieyevski included the fable as the fourth his Aesop Suite 1984 set for brass quintet and narrator as an example of how musical elements lurk in gifted oratorical arguments 5 Alternative versions editThe story was made the occasion for commenting on the proper use of riches by authors in both the East and the West In Saadi Shirazi s Bostan The Garden 1257 the Persian poet retells it as A miserly father and his prodigal son 6 The son spies on his father to discover where he has hidden his wealth digs it up and substitutes a stone When the father finds that it has all been squandered his son declares that spending is what money is for otherwise it is as useless as a stone A similar variant is told by Vasily Maykov where a man living in the miser s house possibly a relative of his and possibly not is tired of living as a pauper so he substitutes the gold in his sacks for sand 7 A folk variant told about Nasreddin has him settle in a city where people boast of the pots full of gold they have stored at home In turn he starts boasting of his own pots which he has filled with pebbles asking when found out Since the jars were covered and idle what difference in the least does it make what might be inside them 8 9 In La Fontaine s Fables where the fable appears as L avare qui a perdu son tresor IV 20 the story is made the occasion for a meditation on the nature of ownership It begins with the statement Possessions have no value till we use them and uses the story as an illustration of someone who is owned by the gold rather than being its owner 10 In Germany Gotthold Ephraim Lessing gave the ending an additional twist in his retelling What drives the miser to distraction in addition to his loss is that someone else is the richer for it 11 Meanwhile a parallel fable had entered European literature based upon a symmetrical two line epigram in the Greek Anthology once ascribed to Plato but more plausibly to Statillius Flaccus A man intending to hang himself discovered hidden gold and left the rope behind him the man who had hidden the gold not finding it hanged himself with the noose he found in its place 12 The 3rd century CE Latin poet Ausonius made a four line version 13 the Tudor poet Thomas Wyatt extended this to eight lines 14 and the Elizabethan George Turberville to twelve 15 Early in the 17th century John Donne alluded to the story and reduced it to a couplet again Look how he look d that hid the gold his hope And at return found nothing but a rope 16 dd dd dd The longest telling and interpretation of the episode was in the 76 lines of Guillaume Gueroult s First Book of Emblems 1550 under the title Man proposes but God disposes 17 In the following century La Fontaine added this story too to his Fables as the lengthy The treasure and the two men IX 15 in which the miser finds comfort in the thought that at least he is hanging himself at another s expense 18 References edit THE MAN AND HIS GOLD mythfolklore net Faerno Gabriello 1743 Imaginibus in aes incisis notisque illustrata Studio Othonis Vaeni google co uk 144 A MISER BURYING HIS GOLD Sir Roger L Estrange mythfolklore net Fables of AEsop and others google co uk 1803 There is a performance online at the Music Happens site G S Davie The Garden of Fragrance Being a Complete Translation of the Bostaan of Sadi 1882 pp 110 11 available in Google Books Skupoj V I Majkov Ron Jackson Suresha Extraordinary Adventures of Mullah Nasruddin Lethe Press 2014 Gold or pebbles p 186 Der Hodscha Nasreddin Albert Wesselski sidenote to story 201 The Complete Fables of Jean de La Fontaine translated by Norman Shapiro University of Illinois 2007 p 101 Fables and Epigrams of Lessing translated from the German London 1825 Fable 14 The Greek Anthology III London 1917 pp 25 6 Ausonius with an English translation by Hugh G Evelyn White London 1921 p 161 Against Hoarders of Money Songs and Epigrams Sir Thomas Wyatt 1880 The Poetical Works bartleby com Cambridge History of English Literature III London p 187 Elegy XIV A tale of a citizen and his wife lines 64 5 Glasgow University emblems project Jean de La Fontaine s Fable Poem The Treasure And The Two Men readbookonline org External links edit15th 20th century illustrations from books Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Miser and his Gold amp oldid 1182492681, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
