Then said the Jew, "My son, why have you chosen this jar, when there
are others so much finer?"

The young man said, "Because the flowers please me, and I have a love
for flowers."

Then said the Jew, "Happy is he whose tastes are simple! Moreover,
herein is a rare wisdom, and thou hast gained that which is the most
valuable of my possessions. This jar has properties which I will
further explain to thee. It was given to me by a wise woman, subject
to this condition, that I must expose it for sale from sunrise to
sunset at the yearly fair. When I understood this I took counsel with
myself how I should preserve it; and I bought other china jars of more
apparent value, and I marked them all with the same price. For I said
within myself, 'There is no man who does not desire to get as much as
he can for his money, therefore, from its contrast with these others,
my jar is safe.' And it was even so; for truly, many have desired to
buy the jar because of the delicate beauty of the flowers, if I would
have sold it for less than others which seemed more valuable."

"Many times it has been almost gone, but when I have shown the others
at the same price, my customers have reviled me, saying, 'Dog of a
Jew, dost thou ask as much for this as for these others Which are
manifestly worth double?' and they have either departed, cursing me,
and taking nothing; or they have bought one of the more richly
decorated jars at the same price. For verily in most men the spirit of
covetousness is stronger than the love of beauty, and they rather
desire to get much for their money, than to obtain that which is
suitable and convenient."

"But in thee, O young man! I have beheld a rare wisdom. To choose that
which is good in thine eyes, and suitable to thy needs, rather than
that which satisfieth the lust of over-reaching; and lo! what I have
so long kept from thousands, has become thine!"

Then the young man wished to restore to the Jew the jar he valued so
highly, and to choose another.

But the Jew refused, saying, "A gift cannot be recalled. Moreover, I
will now explain to thee its uses. Within the jar lies a toad, whose
spit is poison. But it will never spit at its master. Every evening
thou must feed it with bread and milk, when it will fall asleep; and
at sunrise in the morning it will awake and breathe heavily against
the side of the jar, which will thus become warm. As it warms the
flowers will blossom out, and become real, and fu