The Milkmaid and Her Pail
Aesop's Fables · 1 min read
A milkmaid walked toward the market with a full pail of milk balanced carefully on her head, daydreaming as she went. "I'll sell this milk for a good price," she thought, "and with that money, I'll buy eggs. Those eggs will hatch into chickens, and I'll sell the chickens to buy a fine dress for the village fair. When I wear it, every young man will notice me, and I'll toss my head just so at anyone who dares approach —"
Lost entirely in her daydream, she tossed her head exactly as she'd imagined, forgetting the pail balanced above her. It tumbled to the ground, spilling every drop of milk into the dirt, and with it vanished the eggs, the chickens, the dress, and every young man who might have noticed her — all lost before any of it had ever truly begun.
Moral of the story
Don't count your chickens before they've hatched — daydreaming too far ahead can cost you what you already have.