Stream of Gold
L Woods
Jonas Smith had been panning for gold since the gold rush began, and after two years, he finally found some, just enough to fill his mind with thoughts of riches.
With just a little more, he thought, I could buy a large house and fancy new clothes!
Alas, there was no more gold to be had, and Jonas gave up hope of being rich. Sadly, he gathered the gold dust and small nuggets he had found and put them in a sack.
“Excuse me,” said a gentleman in a fine suit who had suddenly appeared, “did you find much gold here?”
Jonas shook his head. “Just a little, but I would sure like to find more.”
“I’ll make you a deal,” said the gentleman. “There’s a stream just beyond that hill that has gold pouring from it. I got my fill and don’t need any more. If you give me your sack of gold, I will sign over my section of the stream to you.” He scribbled something on a document and handed it to Jonas and said, “It will make you a rich man.”
Then the gentleman brought out a handkerchief full of gold dust and announced, “This came out of the stream just yesterday.”
“Sold!” cried Jonas, who happily turned over his little sack and made his way to the stream.
Jonas never saw any gold in that stream, and he never saw the finely dressed gentleman, either.
Lost Dinner
L. Han
The grizzly bear family stood in the icy water at the top of a mountain waterfall, catching salmon for their dinner. The youngest bear, Bo, spent the day playing in the water while his sister Becca and his parents fished.
As the sun began to set, Bo became hungry.
“Hey, Becca!” he called, “It looks like you caught lots of fish today. Mind if I have some for my supper?”
“No, son,” their father stepped in, “your sister worked hard for those fish. We are going home, and I want you to stay here until you’ve caught your dinner.”
Feeling like life was very unfair, Bo said goodbye to his family and went back to the falls.
After many tries, Bo at last caught a small salmon, not much bigger than his paw. He was about to eat it when he saw two much bigger salmon swimming upstream. They would make a fine supper, he thought. So he dropped the little salmon in the water, and it quickly swam away. He swiped his paw again and again through the water, but the big salmon were far too strong and fast. Bo went home hungry that night.
Which theme is only found in "Lost Dinner"?
A Everyone deserves to have wealth.
B Laziness is not the way to success.
C Not everyone is worthy of trust.
D The important thing is not to give up.