The Little Boy and Fortune

The little boy had walked all day, and his legs would not carry him one step more. He came to an old well and lay down on the very edge of it. He did not look down. He shut his eyes and slept.

He rolled over once. He rolled over twice. One more roll, and he would be gone.

"Wake up, little boy! Wake up!" A hand shook his shoulder, and he opened his eyes. There stood Dame Fortune, the lady who brings good luck and bad.

"Look where you are lying," she said. He looked. Down, down, down went the black water.

"If you had fallen in, who would get the blame?" said Dame Fortune. "Me! 'Poor child,' they would say. 'What bad luck Fortune sent him.' They always say it. People walk into trouble on their own two feet, and then they call out my name."