Author’s Note – This story was included this year in honor of those who celebrate Hanukkah during this time.


Once there was a town where many animals lived and went about their daily lives. They were farmers, merchants, craftsmen, and the like who worked for golden acorns, which was the local currency. The town was also inhabited by local beggars whose lives were difficult as it was, but with the coming winter they had to brave the elements as well as beg for food. Many of them were simply unable to work or had difficulty finding a job. They went about their lives each day with hope that tomorrow would be better.

One beggar was named Luis, who was a humble stag that lost his home to a fire, and since could not find a suitable shelter. He saved his acorns for when he was in the most need, and even shared them with other beggars. He was quite humble and knew the value of compassion and generosity, even as a beggar.

There was a day where he happened upon a silk purse that was lay in the street. He looked around for an owner of the purse, but when he found none, he opened it and was surprised to find a hundred golden acorns within! With this money, he could certainly work toward returning to a normal life. But his ears perked when he heard someone calling out, ”A reward! A reward to the one who finds my silk purse!”

Luis approached the merchant who was calling out. His name was Tulio, and accompanied by another named Miguel, they sold vast treasures they found from expeditions overseas. Luis noticed they were wearing exotic clothing and shimmering gold jewelry. Speaking up, he spoke to them, ”I believe I found your silk purse. Here it is, may I ask for the reward you spoke of?”, and he placed the purse on the table before them.

Tulio opened the purse and poured out the acorns into a pile. ”Oh no, I will give you no reward you little thief!”, the merchant immediately snapped at him.

Luis tilted his head, ”What do you mean? I heard you asking if anyone had found a silk purse, and I happened upon this one just a moment ago. I thought you said you would give a reward for finding it.”, he explained.

Miguel nodded, ”He did offer a reward, but there were two hundred acorns in our purse, and this purse only has one hundred.”, he replied. Tulio continued on his behalf, ”That’s right! You’ve stolen your ‘reward’ already! Now get out of here before I call the police on you!”

Luis shook his head, ”But I am an honest man! If I was a thief, I would not have returned the purse to you!”, he pleaded.

Miguel was starting to feel sorry for him, and said, ”Maybe he is telling the truth, Tulio…”

But the greedy merchant stared at his mate, ”I don’t believe him whatsoever. We clearly had two hundred acorns in our purse.”

At this point, Luis chose to intervene, ”Let’s take this to court, so a judge can settle this.”, he demanded.

Tulio and Miguel agreed, and the three left to the courthouse. They were judged by Mr. Sanguine, who listened to the details of both sides of the story. When he had heard the evidence, he spoke to them. ”I have heard your testimonials, and I believe both of you, the accuser and the accused. You, merchants, claim that you lost a silk purse containing two hundred golden acorns. Quite a considerable cost. And you, beggar, claim you found a silk purse containing one hundred golden acorns, and overhearing that the merchants had lost a silk purse, you handed the money to them. I find that this silk purse could not be theirs, as it only contained one hundred acorns, where the purse they lost contained two hundred acorns. Therefore, I will rule in favor of the beggar, and declare that the purse as well as the money within belong to him. Now all of you get out of my sight, you have wasted enough of my time.”

So Luis was given the money he found, and soon would purchase land and begin to work again. He grew pumpkins and gourds for a living, and became quite profitable as a farmer. He would earn more golden acorns that he would ever know what to do with, so he gave back to the community with what he did not need. He would help the other beggars of the town, giving them enough money to eat and find comfortable shelter, and he even gave Miguel and Tulio two hundred acorns to make up for the purse they had lost. He proved that he could be a generous and humble stag, and that he was in no way bitter toward them for the incident before.