In a quaint village fringed by the emerald embrace of rolling hills, there lived a cobbler named Tim. Tim's hands were magic, and the shoes he made were the whispers of legend in nearby towns. Despite his talent, Tim lived modestly, his wealth accumulated in the form of satisfied smiles and the laughter of children prancing in his sturdy boots.
One day, a merchant visited Tim with an offer to build a shoe empire. "Imagine the wealth, Tim! Your name in gold on every street!" seduced the merchant. Tim, whose heart had always been with the leather and thread, felt a tug of temptation.
Years passed, and Tim's empire stood tall. Gold poured in, but with it came a lock on his time and a chain on his freedom. The cobbler's bench, where he once sat and crafted, now gathered dust. Tim was no longer the creator of joy but a slave to his own success.
It was on a visit to his old village when Tim saw a young cobbler at his former bench, eyes alight with passion, that he understood the weight of the words he once read: "If we command our wealth, we shall be rich and free; if our wealth commands us, we are poor indeed."
With this realization, Tim changed his course. He returned to his first love of crafting, not for gold, but for the sheer joy of creation. Wealth became a tool, not a master. Tim found richness in his reclaimed freedom and, in the echoes of laughter that once again surrounded his old cobbler's bench, he found his greatest treasure.
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