Foreword:
This fable represents interrupted daydreams of wealth and fame, and also commonly titled as 'Milkwoman and her Pail' or 'The Daydreaming Milkmaid'. This fable is wrongly attributed to Aesop, although there is no ancient source to substantiate such claim. Hence, it is not catalogued in the Perry Index. However, it remains a very popular fable and has been in circulation for a long time.
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Once, there lived a young milkmaid, and her mother.
Together, they lived in a cottage, and milked their cows to collect all the milk, and sold the collected milk to make a living.
As was usual, one day, the young milkmaid was tasked by her mother to carry a pail of milk to the market to sell.
"Be careful. Don't spill the milk on your way", she said, as she firmly balanced the pail, full of milk, on the young milkmaid's pretty head.
As she walked towards the market, the milkmaid started wondering what she will do with the money she will recieve for the milk.
"I shall buy some eggs", she thought with a view of enlarging their business.
She envisioned that the eggs will hatch into chickens, the chickens will lay much more eggs, and she will sell the eggs in the market, along with the milk.
Doing so, will increase their income, she started day-dreaming.
"But, what will I do with all the money from selling the milk and the eggs?", she wondered.
As she continued on her way to the market, she dreamt of buying herself a fabulous dress with all the money.
She thought of the color and fabric of the dress, and the designs she will order the make of her dress. She fantasized how the dress will be the most beautiful one that anybody can dream of.
Even as she continued to walk towards the market, she continued to dream how pretty she will look when she will put on her fabulous dress, and how all heads will turn to catch a glimpse of her stunning beauty.
Not to mention, the young men and suitors who would compete with each other to meet her, and talk to her, and want to dance with her.
"But no!", she thought dreamily, "I will not entertain them".
And she stood still, putting both her hands on her hips, to enact how she will toss her head from one side to another, to refuse all such invitations.
Suddenly, the pail of milk above her head, became disbalanced, shook and slipped, as she moved her head from one side to another.
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She had completely forgotten that she was using her hands to hold and balance the pail of milk above her head, and during enacting, she had let go of it.
But now it was too late to hold it back in place. And, before she could react, the pail of milk fell down, spilling all the milk on the ground.
She came back to her senses, and realized what had just happenned.
With all the milk on the ground, there was no milk to sell, no money to buy hens, no hens to lay eggs, no dress to order, no young men and suitors to throng around her for attention.
Aggrieved by her loss, she thought how she will make the long walk back home with the empty pail, and face her mother, who had warned her not to spill the milk.
Moral:
Daydreaming leads nowhere, except grief.
Or,
One should not build castles in the air.
Summary:
A milkmaid set out to sell a pail of milk. On the way, she started thinking of the money that she will fetch by selling the milk. She thought of buying some hens, and then selling the eggs. And with all the money, she would buy herself some new clothes. And, how stunning she will look in the new clothes, that young men will compete with themselves to seek her attention. And, how she will refuse them. In her daydream, she forgot about the pail of milk and accidentally spilled all of it on the ground.
