A merchant had done good business at the morning market; he had sold all his wares, and lined his pockets with gold and silver. However, he was weary from the morning’s work and wanted to get back to his own home before nightfall. So he packed up his things on his horse and rode away.
At noon he rested in a town, and when he was ready to leave, a stable boy brought out his horse and said, “A nail is missing, sir, from the shoe of your horse’s left hind hoof.”
“Let it be,” answered the merchant, “The shoe will certainly stay on for the six miles I have yet to go. I am in a hurry.”
A few hours later, when the man once more stopped to rest and have his horse fed and watered, the stable-boy came to him and said, “Sir, your horse is missing a shoe from his left hind hoof. Shall I take him to the blacksmith?”
“Let it be,” said the man, “The horse can very well hold out for the couple of miles which remain. I am in a hurry to get home before nightfall.”
He rode forth, but before long the horse began to limp. It had not limped long before it began to stumble, and it had not stumbled long before it fell down and refused to get up again. The merchant was forced to leave the horse where it was, and unstrap the trunk, take it on his own back, and walk the rest of the way home on foot. And he did not arrive until very late at night. “And that cursed nail,” he said to himself, “has caused all this disaster.”
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