# The Miser explained — Aesop's Fables

> Chapter companion for Aesop's Fables by Aesop.

## What happens

A Miser melts his gold into a lump, buries it, and visits it daily until a servant steals it. A neighbor advises him to replace the gold with a brick, as the gold was never used.

## Themes in this chapter

### Wisdom and Foolishness

The Miser's foolish attachment to unused gold contrasts with the neighbor's wise observation that a brick serves the same purpose.

### Human Nature and Vice

Explores the vice of greed and the irrational behavior of valuing possession over use.

## Character check-ins

### The Miser

The protagonist who hoards gold and mourns its loss.

### The Thief

The servant who discovers and steals the buried gold.

### The Old Man

The neighbor who offers pragmatic advice to the Miser.

## Key lines

> Don’t take it so much to heart, my friend; put a brick into the hole, and take a look at it every day: you won’t be any worse off than before, for even when you had your gold it was of no earthly use to you.

The neighbor suggests that since the gold was never used, a brick would serve the same purpose as the treasure.

_Highlights the central moral about the futility of hoarding._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fables_se/chapters/the-miser
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fables_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/fables_se/chapters