The Wonderful Pump
Long time ago there lived on a stony, barren England farm a man and his wife. They were sober, honest people, working hard from early morning until dark to enable them to secure a scanty living from their poor land.
Their house, a small building, stood upon the side of a steep hill, and the stones lay so thickly. At the foot of the hill, a quarter of a mile from the house by the zigzag path was a small river, and the woman usually went there for water and carried it up to the house. This was a boring task, but she never complained.
One day, as she walked down the path to the river, her big shoes stepped on an insect. She noticed it. The insect tried to free itself, but it couldn’t. The woman, who had a kind heart, reached down and freed the insect. After that, she continued her journey.
The next day, she found the little creature again. She was surprised. The insect could talk.
“Thank you. You saved my life,” said the insect.
Being half afraid, the woman answered, “How could you talk?”
The insect said that he was a king beetle, and he wanted to reply the woman’s kindness. He asked, “Why do you always go to the river?”
The woman replied, “For water.”
The beetle suggested the woman to dig a well with a magic pump that he gave. If there’s no water, the woman would have something precious.
Then, the woman returned home with a magic pump in her hand. She told her husband about the moment with King Beetle. Her husband couldn’t believe it. The woman showed the pump to him. She asked her husband to try it.
Then, the man dug a hole. He dug and dug until the hole was so deep. But, there was no water. He told her wife about it.
The woman asked, “Do you use the pump?” The man replied, “No.”
“Then try it.”
The man brought the pump and used it to pump the well. He was so surprised. He found pieces of gold appeared from it. He was so delighted. Then, he rushed home and showed the gold coins to his wife. She looked so happy.
“My beloved wife, what will we do know?” asked the man. A greedy thought struck them immediately. The woman wanted to change their life. So, they decided to spend the gold. They became a wealthy family. But, they used their wealth for their own self.
One day, when they arrived at home from shopping, they found their door had broken. Inside their house, there was no property left. The man tried to pump the well, but no golden coin appeared. So, the woman went to the river. She met King Beetle there. She told him about a person who stole her possessions and the pump. King Beetle laughed. He said, “It’s your own fault.”
“So, what will we do?” asked the woman.
"What did you do before I gave you the money?"
"We worked from morning 'til night," she replied.
"Then work still remains for you," remarked the beetle. Then, King Beetle disappeared.