A magic coin

A boy was walking along the way as he spotted a one-penny coin lying on the ground. "Well," he thought, "a penny is also money!" He took it and put it in his wallet. And then he began to think further: "What would I do if I found a thousand rubles? I would buy gifts to my father and mother!". Hardly had he thought so as he felt his wallet having grown thicker. He looked into it, and there was a thousand rubles.

"How strange,” the boy was surprised. There was one coin, and now – as much as a thousand rubles! Well, what would I do if I found ten thousand rubles? I would buy a cow and feed my parents with milk! ". He looked inside the wallet found there already ten thousand rubles! "Miracles!”, the lucky fellow was delighted. "What if I found a hundred thousand rubles?" Then I would buy a house, get married and settle in a new house with my old parents! ". Quickly did he open the wallet – and here you are – there was as much as a hundred thousand rubles!

Then he began to meditate: "Maybe I’d better not take my father and mother to the new house? My wife might not like them. May they live in their old house. And to keep a cow is troublesome. I'd better buy a goat. And I will not buy a lot of gifts: the expenditures are big, anyway."

At once he felt that his wallet had become light and airy! He got frightened, glimpsed inside it – but there's only one-penny coin there...

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