Grimm Reviews – “The Nail”

My introductory post.  

“The Nail”

A merchant had done good business at a fair and packed his chest full of gold and silver. He started home on his horse, hoping to be there by nightfall. At noon he stopped to rest, and a stable boy told him there was a nail missing from one horseshoe. He was in a hurry and only had a few more miles to go, so the merchant didn’t get it fixed.

The next time he stopped, a stable boy told him his horse was missing a shoe. But the merchant was still in a hurry and only had a few more miles to go, so he didn’t get it fixed.

But further on, the horse stumbled and broke its leg, so the merchant had to carry his chest the rest of the way home and he didn’t get there until late at night, blaming the nail for all his troubles.

#

I think this is a good tale, with a good moral. The tale even ends with “Make haste slowly,” which is good advice for whatever century you live in.

The one odd bit is that when he stopped at noon he said he only had six more miles to go.  I’ve never ridden a horse, but even walking it shouldn’t take them all afternoon to go six miles.