a certain poor widow had one solitary sheep. at shearing time, wishing to take his fleece and to avoid expense, she sheared him herself, but used the shears so unskillfully that with the fleece she sheared the flesh. the sheep, writhing with pain, said, "why do you hurt me so, mistress? what weight can my blood add to the wool? if you want my flesh, there is the butcher, who will kill me in an instant; but if you want my fleece and wool, there is the shearer, who will shear and not hurt me."

the least outlay is not always the greatest gain.

一个生活并不宽裕的寡妇只养了一只羊。【万能书屋】到了剪羊毛的时节，寡妇希望可以用羊毛来换取一些生活费用。于是，她就自己动手剪羊毛。可惜她的技术并不高明，弄得羊遍体鳞伤。羊委屈地对主人说:“女主人啊，你为什么要这样伤害我啊！我的血能增加多少重量呢？如果你想要我的肉，就请找一个屠夫来吧，让我死得痛快一些；如果你想要我的羊毛，那就请一个专业的剪毛工人吧，不要再让我受这些无谓的伤害了。”

最少的付出并非总能得到最大的收获。