There once was a hawk, ferocious and swift. He was young and agile with many years of life to hunt open ranch lands. In a nearby field, a mouse scurried about ground. The hawk saw hurried motion and swept speedily toward rodent.Just as hawk's shadow engulfed smaller rodent, mouse fell to its back and begged, "Please, Mr. Hawk, spare me my life!" This surprised hunter and he landed beside mouse.
"Why should I spare your life? I am hungry today."
"It's always about today, isn't it?" answered mouse. "Do you ever think about tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow? Well, that's just another day to flap my wings. I will eat then, too."
The mouse scratched his chin and replied, "But one day you will be old and gray. You will have chiseled claws. You should prepare for future now or starve later."
"I do, I do. I am building a grand nest as we speak. You see, I fly low to highway's hot pavement in search of lost dollar bills everyday. I find a dollar a day and add it to my nest. I am constantly constructing my nest egg."
The proud hawk looked toward mouse for a reply. The mouse shook his head and stated, "I will make a deal with you, hawk. If after fifty years, you have saved more money than me, not only will I give myself up for your feast, I will lead every mouse in this field to your nest."
The hawk did not take long to consider proposition. He knew he could cover more ground flying than mouse could crawling. He would be able to locate twice as many lost dollar bills and thus build a much larger nest. The hunter concluded that in fifty years, he would have a great feast.