Hans in Luck

Hans, having worked seven long years for his master, was finally paid with a lump of gold as large as his own head and set off happily for home, though the heavy gold quickly grew exhausting to carry on his long journey.

Meeting a horseman along the way, Hans admired how effortlessly he traveled and eagerly traded his heavy gold for the horse. The horse, however, threw him off painfully, and Hans, shaken, gladly traded it to a farmer for a docile cow instead. The cow gave no milk and kicked him when he tried, so he traded her for a pig. Fearing the pig was stolen when a passerby warned him so, he traded it nervously for a goose. Finally, meeting a knife-grinder who praised how profitable grindstones were, Hans traded his goose for two heavy grindstones — which he then dropped into a well while drinking, watching them sink without a shred of regret.

Free at last of every burden, Hans walked the rest of the way home light and utterly delighted, genuinely believing himself the luckiest man alive — having traded a fortune in gold, through step after cheerful step, for absolutely nothing at all, and feeling wealthier in spirit with every loss.