_We carry our own good luck with us in the way we do our work._
There once lived a most discontented old man. He never had any
luck, or at least that is what he said. He was the laziest man
you ever knew. His barn burned down because he dropped a match on
the hay, and was too lazy to pick it up. A fox stole his chickens
because he was too lazy to fix the chicken house. His horse went
lame because he was too lazy to get a new shoe. Things grew worse
instead of better. The old man could stand it no longer, so he said
to his friends:
“I must go into the world to seek my fortune. There is no luck here
for me.”
So he tied up a few things, put them on his back and walked to the
nearest town. He soon found work, but he was so lazy that he lost
his job. He wandered from town to town in search of his fortune,
but all in vain. Things grew worse; his clothes were ragged and his
shoes worn out.
“Oh, well,” he said to himself, “this is no better than at home,
and there I have a house in which to sleep.” So back he tramped
until he reached his old home.
He hardly knew his old place, he had been gone so long. When he
reached the doorsteps of the house he sat down to rest. “I don’t
believe there is any luck in all the world,” he said.
“Oh, yes, there is,” said a voice. He thought he was all alone, but
when he looked up there stood a fairy. “I am the good luck fairy,”
she said, “I have been watching you for a long time. Now I have
come to give you one more chance to have good luck.”
“Give it to me,” said the man, “I will do as you say.”
“Very well, then. There are three things you must do if you would
have good luck come and stay with you.
“See this clover,” said she, pointing down to some clover that
grew by the door step; “it has three leaves. Each leaf tells you
something. The first says, ‘Be Careful’; the second says, ‘Be
Honest’; and the third says, ‘Be Busy.’”
The fairy touched the clover with her wand and another leaf grew
out. “Look,” she said, “there is a fourth leaf now. It is for luck.”
Then the fairy disappeared. He looked down at the clover, and there
was a four-leaf clover among the others. He stooped and picked it
and touching each leaf he said to himself: “Be careful; be honest;
be busy; good luck.” This was his good luck and he intended to obey
it. He went about his work, doing his very best, and from that he
always had good luck.