The Miser who lost his Treasure

Under a rock at the edge of town, the miser had buried all his gold, and his heart lay buried with it. He thought about it when he ate. He thought about it when he drank. He thought about it day and night. He did not spend it. He did not touch it. He only went to look.

He went so often that a gravedigger noticed him. The gravedigger watched, and he guessed. One dark night he came with his spade, and he told nobody.

Next morning the miser found a hole with nothing in it. He pulled his hair. He sobbed and moaned until a man walking by stopped to ask what was wrong. "My treasure!" wailed the miser. "Someone has stolen my treasure!"

"Out here, by this rock?" said the man. "Why not keep it at home in a cupboard? Then you could spend it whenever you liked."

"Spend it?" cried the miser. "Whenever I liked? I never touched a coin of it!"

"Then why are you crying?" said the man. "Put a rock in the hole. It will be worth just as much to you."