Hello there.
Thank you so much for joining me for this reading of yet another classic old parable.
This one is the Milkmaid and her pail.
This was a fable by Jean de Lefontain and it was published in 1678.
This is another story that certainly reminds us about being in the present.
Paying attention to what is going on right now.
And it also calls to mind the idea of not counting our chickens before they have hatched.
It also calls to mind.
The saying,
Pride comes before a fall.
Before we get into the story itself here.
Let's just take a little moment.
Have a nice day.
Exhale.
Letting go of the day.
Letting go of whichever baggage we might be bringing along with us into this moment.
For right now.
There's nowhere else we have to go.
Nothing else we have to be doing.
So we can just relax.
Get ourselves comfortable.
And enjoy.
Another classic old parable.
The milkmaid and her pail.
One fine morning,
A young milkmaid named Perrette set off for the market.
Balanced carefully on her head,
Was a pail filled with fresh milk,
Which she hoped to sell for a good price.
The morning was bright,
The birds were singing.
And Perrette was in a cheerful mood.
As she walked along the country road,
She began thinking about all the wonderful things she might do with the money she would earn.
First,
She would sell the metal.
With the money from the milk,
She could buy some eggs.
She would take the eggs home and put them under a hang.
Before long.
They would hatch into a whole brood of little chicks.
The chicks would grow into fine young chickens which she could sell at the market for a handsome profit.
With that money.
She could buy a piglet.
She pictured the little pig.
Growing plump and healthy.
Until it was worth a great deal.
Deal of money.
She would sell it and buy a calf.
The calf.
Would grow into a fine cow.
And soon she would have more money than she had ever imagined.
Correct.
Smiled to herself.
Why?
Before long,
She would be really dead.
White prospers.
She began to imagine.
The lovely new dress she would buy.
With her own names.
Perhaps.
She would wear it to the village fair.
Where everyone would admire how beautiful.
Beautiful,
She looked.
The young men would notice her,
Of course.
They would come over to speak to her,
Hoping to win her attention.
But she would hold her head high and pretend not to notice them.
Caught up in her grand imaginings.
Perrette gave her head a little toss,
Just as she imagined she might do at the fair.
And.
.
.
Down came the pale.
It slipped from her head and crashed.
To the ground.
The milk spilled across the road,
Soaking into the dust.
Correct.
Start staring.
Had the broken pail and the pool of milk.
At her feet.
And.
.
.
In that instant,
Everything she had imagined.
Came tumbling down.
With the pale.
There would be no money from the milk.
No eggs.
No chicks,
No piglet or fine cow.
No beautiful new dress.
No admiring young men at the village fair Amen.
Those wonderful plans.
Had depended on the milk she had been carrying.
She had become so absorbed in dreaming about the future.
That she had forgotten to take care.
Of what she had.
In the present.
And now.
.
.
It was fun.
There is clearly nothing inherently wrong with having dreams.
It's lovely to imagine the things we might do.
The possibilities that may lie ahead.
Sometimes though.
We become so busy in our imagined future.
We forget to pay attention to the life unfolding right in front of and around us.
We worry about what might happen tomorrow.
We make elaborate plans.
Imagine how happy we'll be when we finally have things how we want them.
And all the while.
We might miss the simple gifts.
Of today.
Sunshine on our faces.
The people beside us.
The little pleasures that make an ordinary day worth living.
None of us know exactly how the future will unfold.
Our plans might work out beautifully.
More likely life.
Will take us somewhere.
Entirely unexpected.
By all means,
Dream.
Make plans,
Look forwards to wonderful things.
And just remember.
To keep an eye on the pale.
You're carrying.
Life isn't just waiting for us somewhere down the road.
It is happening.
Right here.
Right now.
And your present moment.
Could use some presents too.
