We carry our own good luck with us in the way we do our work.

There once lived a most discontented old man. He never had any luck, or at least that is what he said. He was the laziest man you ever knew. His barn burned down because he dropped a match on the hay, and was too lazy to pick it up. A fox stole his chickens because he was too lazy to fix the chicken house. His horse went lame because he was too lazy to get a new shoe. Things grew worse instead of better. The old man could stand it no longer, so he said to his friends:

“I must go into the world to seek my fortune. There is no luck here for me.”

So he tied up a few things, put them on his back and walked to the nearest town. He soon found work, but he was so lazy that he lost his job. He wandered from town to town in search of his fortune, but all in vain. Things grew worse; his clothes were ragged and his shoes worn out.

“Oh, well,” he said to himself, “this is no better than at home, and there I have a house in which to sleep.” So back he tramped until he reached his old home.

He hardly knew his old place, he had been gone so long. When he reached the doorsteps of the house he sat down to rest. “I don’t believe there is any luck in all the world,” he said.

“Oh, yes, there is,” said a voice. He thought he was all alone, but when he looked up there stood a fairy. “I am the good luck fairy,” she said, “I have been watching you for a long time. Now I have come to give you one more chance to have good luck.”

“Give it to me,” said the man, “I will do as you say.”

“Very well, then. There are three things you must do if you would have good luck come and stay with you.

“See this clover,” said she, pointing down to some clover that grew by the door step; “it has three leaves. Each leaf tells you something. The first says, ‘Be Careful’; the second says, ‘Be Honest’; and the third says, ‘Be Busy.’”

The fairy touched the clover with her wand and another leaf grew out. “Look,” she said, “there is a fourth leaf now. It is for luck.”

Then the fairy disappeared. He looked down at the clover, and there was a four-leaf clover among the others. He stooped and picked it and touching each leaf he said to himself: “Be careful; be honest; be busy; good luck.” This was his good luck and he intended to obey it. He went about his work, doing his very best, and from that he always had good luck.