A Widow decided to shear her only Sheep. She botched the job and was berated by the Sheep.
The least outlay is not always the greatest gain.
Townsend version
A certain poor widow had one solitary Sheep. At shearing time, wishing to take his fleece and to avoid expense, she sheared him herself, but used the shears so unskillfully that with the fleece she sheared the flesh. The Sheep, writhing with pain, said, “Why do you hurt me so, Mistress? What weight can my blood add to the wool? If you want my flesh, there is the butcher, who will kill me in an instant; but if you want my fleece and wool, there is the shearer, who will shear and not hurt me.”
Moral
The least outlay is not always the greatest gain.
Ovis et Vidua
Quaedam olim vidua domi nutriebat ovem. Quae, cum cuperet lanam habere longiorem, imperita tondebat manu bidentem cuticulaque tenus forcipe demetebat vellus, adeo ut vulnus faceret. “Ne me laedas,” bestia dolens inquit, “quid enim ponderis sanguis adiiciet meus? Ast carnis si meae opus est tibi, domina, adest coquus, qui me compendiose immolabit. Quod si lanae et velleris eges, non vero carnium, rursus est tonsor, qui me tondebit ac sinet vivere.”
Moral
Fabula in eos qui inexperti res adgrediuntur, ita ut minus lucri importent sibi quam damni.
Perry #212
