There was once upon a time a small boy who was on his way to church. As he passed through a clearing in the woods, he saw a fox lying asleep on a slab of glimmerite. The fox didn’t notice that the boy saw him.
“When I now take the life of this fox and sell its pelt,” said the boy, picking up a big stone, “then I’ll have some money. With that money I’ll buy some rye, and I’ll sow the rye on father’s strip of field back home. When then the church folk come, they’ll say: ‘Oh what fine rye that boy has!’ And I’ll say to them: ‘Don’t tramp on the rye!’ But they shan’t listen, so I’ll shout at them: ‘Say, don’t tramp on the rye!’ But still they shan’t listen, so I’ll scream at them as loudly as I can: ‘Don’t tramp on the rye, I said!’ And then they’ll listen.”
Now, at the boy’s screaming, the fox awoke and ran off into the forest, and so the boy didn’t get so much as a tuft of its hair.
No, it is better to take the opportunity that presents itself; one ought never to boast of what has not been accomplished, as they say.
– Gabriel Djurklou (1829–1904). Sagor och äfventyr (1885).