There once lived a widowed farmer who lived alone, and as winter was approaching, he heard about a family on the other side of the mountain who suffered a major crop loss that summer. They were low on food and rumor had it that the children were now ill. He had the idea to make a trip to bring them food and a little medicine. Then he had a second idea.

“While I’m at it,” he thought, “I should bring some of my extra crops and sell it to the townsfolk nearby.  Then I can use the money to buy myself something to help me get through the winter, like a new tool set or quality pipe tobacco.”

He liked both ideas very much. But his wagon was in need of repair, and his horse would only be able to carry supplies for the family – nothing more.  So he decided to postpone the trip until he could get everything done he wanted to get done. After just a few days his wagon was fixed, but it took over a week more to harvest all the crops he wanted to sell.

Finally after a couple of weeks, the man set out with his precious load. He felt very good about what he was doing, and anticipated the thankful welcome of the family he was going to see.

A couple days later he arrived to their cabin, and to his shock and sadness discovered that they had all perished.

But … He was able to sell his crops to the nearby town, and returned home with a profit.