Fortune And The Poor Man by Brothers Grimm

Story title: Fortune And The Poor Man
By: Brothers Grimm

         There was a poor man who complained loudly that life had been unfair. "Most of those who are rich did nothing to gain their wealth," he wailed to anyone who would listen. "They inherit their money from their parents."
         One day, as the man was walking home after having expressed his bitter feelings to some of his friends, Fortune appeared before him and said, "I have decided to provide you with wealth. Hold out your purse, and I will fill it with gold coins. But there is one condition: if any of the gold fails out of the purse onto the ground everything I gave you will become dust. Be careful. I see that your purse is old; do not overload it."
         The poor man was overjoyed. He loosened the strings of his purse and watched as Fortune started to pour a stream of golden coins into it. The wallet soon became heavy.
         "Is that enough?" Fortune asked.
        "Not yet," the man replied. Fortune poured in several more coins, so that the purse was filled, and then asked again, "Shall I stop now?" The man answered,
         "Not yet, just a few more."
          But at that moment, the purse split apart, the gold coins fell to the ground, and the treasure turned to dust. Fortune disappeared, and the greedy man was left with an empty wallet.