a very poor man, a carpenter by trade, had a wooden image of mercury, before which he made offerings day by day, and begged the idol to make him rich, but in spite of his entreaties he became poorer and poorer. at last, being very angry, he took his image down from its pedestal and dashed it against the wall. when its head was knocked off, out came a stream of gold, which the carpenter quickly picked up and said, "well, i think thou art altogether contradictory and unreasonable; for when i paid you honor, i reaped no benefits:but now that i maltreat you i am loaded with an abundance of riches."

一个生活非常贫穷的木匠有一尊赫耳墨斯的木质雕像，他每天都向雕像祈祷自己有朝一日可以成为富翁。【病娇大佬的小娇气太甜了】但是，不管他多么虔诚地祈祷，他的生活却每况愈下。终于，愤怒的木匠把雕像从底座上拿起来狠狠地摔到了墙上。雕像被摔碎了，木匠意外地发现雕像的头部竟然有很多黄金。木匠赶快把黄金捡起来，对着雕像说:“这真是矛盾啊！之前我对你那么虔诚，我却一无所获；如今我把你摔碎了，你反而给了我这么丰厚的回报。”

人们总是期待他们信仰的宗教可以给予回报。