One day, he bought a big lump of gold. He hid it in a hole by a tree. Every night, he went to the hole to look at his treasure. He sat and looked. “No one will ever find my gold!” he said.

But one night, a thief saw Paul looking at his gold. And when Paul went home, the thief picked up the lump of gold, slipped it into his bag and ran away!

The next day, Paul went to look at his gold, but it wasn’t there. It had disappeared! Paul cried and cried! He cried so loud that a wise old man heard him. He came to help. Paul told him the sad tale of the stolen lump of gold. “Don’t worry,” he said. “Get a big stone and put it in the hole by the tree.”

“What?” Paul said. “Why?”

‘What did you do with your lump of gold?”

“I sat and looked at it every day,” Paul said.

“Exactly,” the wise old man said. “You can do exactly the same with a stone.”

Paul listened, thought for a moment and then said, “Yes, you’re right. I’ve been very silly. I don’t need a lump of gold to be happy!”

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