Two neighbors came before Jupiter and prayed him to grant their hearts’ desire. Now the one was full of avarice, and the other eaten up with envy. So to punish them both, Jupiter granted that each might have whatever he wished for himself, but only on condition that his neighbor had twice as much. The Avaricious man prayed to have a room full of gold. No sooner said than done; but all his joy was turned to grief when he found that his neighbor had two rooms full of the precious metal. Then came the turn of the Envious man, who could not bear to think that his neighbor had any joy at all. So he prayed that he might have one of his own eyes put out, by which means his companion would become totally blind.
What is most likely the moral of this story?
a. Be careful what you wish for.
b. Vices are their own punishment.
c. To be envious is better than to be greedy.
d. It is better to give than to receive.
Scroll down for the answer.
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a. is incorrect. The first man gets his wish for a room full of gold . There is nothing wrong with it. He can't enjoy it because he is so greedy that he can't stand for his neighbor to have more. This is the best wrong answer.
b. is correct. See above. The greedy man can't enjoy his own wish because somebody has more. The envious man wastes his wish on losing an eye so that his neighbor would lose both. It was their own vices that led to their unhappiness.
c. is incorrect. This is completely wrong. Both are bad and neither is praised over the other.
d. is incorrect. It is nice, but the only giving here is punishments.
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