A man set out on the longest night of the year on an indefinitely long business trip, carrying two cases: one containing his necessities in his left hand and one with some trinkets cast in lead in his right. These trinkets were heirlooms to which he attached some sentiment, although they would fetch nothing at the market.
At length he was thoroughly tired out and without any prospect of a suitable place to stop. Unable to bear the weight he was carrying any further, he decided to leave his trinkets behind. If his venture succeeded, he could replace them; if not, they would be of no help. So he unclenched his hand, now cramped, and dropped the case by the road.
A few steps further and he noticed that his arm had gone to sleep. His burden was now unbalanced too, slowing him down further. Instead of stopping or rubbing his arm, however, he reflected that, since he was now carrying nothing in his right hand and his limbs felt like lead, he could dispose of a little more weight. So he madly cut off his arm, philosophically reflecting as he did so that it hurt, but that one must make sacrifices and move on.
Soon the blood loss slowed his progress even further; also he kept slipping in his own blood. He had come to a pool of water and was dying of thirst. Not having two hands in which to cup water, he lapped it up. His blood dripped into the water and tainted it as he drank. He grumbled at the taste and cursed the false or outdated report that had given out the water as sweet.
Then he brightened. At least he was no longer bearing his trinkets or his arm. What would his suffering have been had he been carrying that extra weight!
