THE GOLDEN ROOT[1].
A person who is over-curious, and wants to know more than he ought, always carries the match in his hand to set fire to the powder-room of his own fortunes; and he who pries into others' affairs is frequently a loser in his own; for generally he who digs holes to search for treasures, comes to a ditch, into which he himself falls; as happened to the daughter of a gardener in the following manner.
There was once a gardener, who was so very very poor that, however hard he worked, he could not manage to get bread for his family: so he gave three little pigs to three daughters whom he had, that they might rear them, and thus get something for a little dowry. Then Pascuzza and Cice, who were the eldest, drove their little pigs to feed in a beautiful meadow, but they would not let Parmetella, who was the youngest daughter, go with them, and drove her away, telling her to go and feed
- ↑ Lo Turzo d'Oro—'the Trunk of Gold'—here, the part of the trunk where the roots begin.