Four Treasure-Seekers

Watercolor painting of four friends, consistently sized and shaped, each a different muted color (e.g., pale blue, dusty rose, soft yellow, muted green), traveling through a lush, vibrant landscape. One friend is kneeling beside a pile of shimmering copper coins. Another is examining a glittering silver ingot. A third stands near a mound of gold, looking conflicted. The fourth friend, smaller and drawn with slightly darker, sharper lines, has a spinning wheel on his head, with a dark, mysterious figure standing slightly behind him, while another friend watches sorrowfully from the background. The overall style should be whimsical but with a touch of melancholy. The background should include hints of the wise Yogi in the distance, barely visible amongst the foliage.

Four friends, all very poor, decided to travel far away to find some money. They met a wise Yogi who gave each of them a special wick. He told them, “Walk until one of you accidentally drops your wick. Where it falls, you’ll find treasure!”

The first friend dropped his wick and found lots of copper! He was so happy, he went home rich. The second friend found silver, and he went home too. The third friend found gold, and he almost went home, but…

The fourth friend was very greedy. He wanted even more treasure! He kept walking and walking. He got very thirsty and lost his way. Then he met a scary man with a spinning wheel on his head! Because the fourth friend was so greedy, the spinning wheel moved to his head! It hurt a lot!

The scary man explained, “Only someone with a special wick can take this wheel away! I got it because I was greedy too.” The fourth friend’s friend came to look for him, and he saw his friend in pain. His friend was sad, because he learned that greed makes you unhappy.

The moral of the story is: It’s better to be happy with what you have than to be greedy and unhappy.

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Frogs that Rode a Snake

Four Learned Fools

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