Long long ago, there was a small village in themountains, and many people lived there. Mike was one of them. He was a middle--agedman. The people in the village always laughed at him. They liked to show visitorshow stupid Mike was. They thought this was an amusing thing to do.
One day, a visitor came to the village. "Watchthis! " a villager said and called to Mike. "Come and play a game, Mike. " he shouted.Mike walked slowly towards him, with a silly smile on his face. "Look, Mike, " thevillager said, "I have got something for you. " He showed Mike a $1 coin and a muchlarger 50¢(美分)coin. "Which one would youlike? " he asked Mike, holding them both out. Mike immediately took the 50¢coin. The villager laughed. "See how stupid he is! "he said, " Healways does that. How stupid he is! " He walked away, leaving Mike with the visitor.
The visitor felt sorry for Mike. "Mike, listen,"he said, "Although the 50¢coin is biggerthan the 1 coin, the 1 coin is worth much more. Twice as much. " "I know that, "Mike said, "But the very first time I take the $1 coin, they will stop playing thegame. " Mike went away and left the visitor in silence.