Groundhog and Gold
“Ha, have you heard? There’s gold in Jenny’s field.”
“What? Who told you that? How come I don’t know about it?”
“You really don’t know? Everyone in the village knows by now, except for that big fool Jenny himself. They say a mole was the first to find it. Poor mole broke a tooth and didn’t even know he’d found gold. Harry happened to pass by and saw it. Cunning Harry even tried to buy Jenny’s land, but Jenny wouldn’t agree, saying it was worth at least five hundred gold coins.”
“What? Five hundred gold coins? Without the gold, it’s worth at most fifty gold coins. Poor Jenny, such a clueless fool.”
“Yes, he’s really a lucky but foolish idiot.”
An orange groundhog and a brown groundhog were sitting under a large rock, chatting about the latest happenings in the groundhog kingdom.
After they parted ways, the sky grew dark, and soon the moon rose. Overcome with curiosity, the brown groundhog sneaked into Jenny’s field.
Unexpectedly, the field was already filled with all the groundhogs from the village. It seemed everyone had heard the news.
“Hey, what are you all doing here?”
“Shh, don’t you know? There’s gold in Jenny’s field.”
“I just heard about it from Jenny’s distant cousin.”
“Shh, don’t say anything. The mole is digging again.”
“Look, it’s gold!”
Indeed, the soil the mole dug up contained gold, glittering under the moonlight.
Everyone rushed forward, grabbing all the gold the mole had unearthed.
The noise woke up Jenny, who was sleeping.
“What are you all doing?” asked a drowsy Jenny.
“Nothing, we were just passing by. Go back to sleep.”
“Don’t wake me again.”
“Alright, we’ll leave.”
Everyone quickly left, taking the mole with them, afraid Jenny would find out about the gold.
But soon, the news of gold in Jenny’s field reached the ears of the groundhog king.
“Is it true? How could there be gold in that poor Jenny’s field?” the king excitedly asked Jenny’s distant cousin.
“It’s true, Your Majesty. The whole village can attest to it.”
“And Jenny doesn’t know about this?”
“That big fool? Of course not. The first to discover it was a lost mole.”
“Then why are you telling me this? What’s your motive?”
“Your Majesty, considering that Jenny still doesn’t know there’s gold in his field, I beg you to buy his land. Only you have the right to buy it, and of course, you can buy it for the least amount of gold. It’s a profitable deal for you.”
“Not a bad idea. If it’s as you say, I’ll reward you with five hundred gold coins.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
The greedy king, thrilled by Jenny’s cousin’s suggestion, couldn’t sleep.
Still uneasy, the king, one night, took his guards and, led by Jenny’s cousin, sneaked into Jenny’s field under the moonlight.
The king personally started digging.
“Ouch, my tooth.” The king painfully looked at his broken tooth.
He picked up the stone that had broken his tooth and wiped it with his hand. It was indeed gold.
“Look, Your Majesty, it’s gold.”
“Shh, don’t let Jenny know. Let’s go.”
The king, supported by his guards, took the gold and his broken tooth back to the castle.
The next day, the king went to Jenny’s house.
“Oh, dear Jenny, you poor boy, how have you been?”
“Not well, Your Majesty. Winter is coming, and my house is always cold. I wish the king could give me some straw as a winter quilt.”
“Indeed, it’s very cold. Gold can’t compare to dirt. Gold isn’t warm,” the king whispered to Jenny’s cousin.
“How about this, my poor Jenny. I’ll give you five hundred gold coins for your land. You can take the money and move somewhere warm, and you won’t suffer anymore.”
“But, Your Majesty, this isn’t a good deal for you. My land isn’t worth that much gold.”
“Of course, your land isn’t worth that much. But you’re my subject, and I can’t bear to see you suffer. That’s the last thing I want.”
“But, Your Majesty~”
“No buts. Guards, give my dear subject, our poor Jenny, five hundred gold coins. Let him move to a better place and enjoy warmth.”
The guards handed Jenny a large bag of gold coins and escorted him out of his house.
Watching Jenny leave reluctantly, the king was ecstatic.
“Oh, I almost forgot, you sly fox. I still owe you five hundred gold coins. Thank you for giving me a golden land. Here are your five hundred gold coins, but you must swear never to let Jenny know about this.”
“Rest assured, Your Majesty. I swear Jenny will never know.”
Jenny’s cousin happily took the five hundred gold coins from the king and left.
Jenny also took his coins and went to a new groundhog kingdom, where his cousin lived.
Soon, Jenny arrived at his cousin’s house, where the mole who first found the gold was also present. They dumped the gold coins the king had given them onto the table.
“Ha ha, you’re really clever. These coins are enough for us,” Jenny praised his cousin.
“By now, that miserly king must be furious if he finds out we tricked him out of his gold coins.”
“Indeed, if he finds out there was only stone and no gold, he’ll be livid,” said the mole.
“Yes, let that miser suffer for once,” Jenny said.
“Alright, here are your two hundred gold coins. Make sure no one knows we’re here.”
Jenny’s cousin handed the mole two hundred gold coins, and the mole happily took the bag of coins and disappeared into the underground tunnel.
“Poor blind thing, it still doesn’t know what real gold looks like. Giving it two hundred iron coins and it can’t even tell.”
“Of course, moles are naturally blind. We’ve just tricked it out of two hundred gold coins.”
“Ha ha ha~”
Jenny and his cousin were happily counting the golden coins, planning their future enjoyment.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
