A COFFEE CUP was once very miser with her money, saving all year long, and using her bed mattress as a safe. She gathered all sorts of money, from coins to banknotes, both from Greece and other countries, even treating them as collectibles, which she carefully hid in her bed mattress so others wouldn't ask her to borrow them.

 

 

 

So much money did she store under her bed mattress, that she eventually had trouble sleeping at night, as the coins were constantly jiggling. One day that she woke up with a backpain, she came to the conclusion: "If only my mattress was bigger, I would be able to stuff it with even more coins. I need a new one!”

So, she went to buy one. After carefully examining her choices, she chose the biggest. “This will be much more comfortable”, she thought and asked the sales assistant’s opinion, who, however, informed her that the specific mattress was an expensive one. The very moment she heard it, she turned it down and started asking for the prices of each and every mattress in the store, until she ended up buying… a water mattress that was the cheapest option available. 

"It’s two birds with one shot", she thought, "as I will also keep it for summer time". And so, she bought it. In order to further cut down costs, however, she refused to buy a pump. She went back home, took a few deep breaths, and started inflating the mattress all by herself by pumping air straight from her lungs.

A few minutes later the mattress was still flat. "I'd best save my breath or else I will run out", she thought, each time blowing out less and less air. Half an hour later, and she was still in the beginning, as the air she pushed in quickly came out through the valve every time she paused to catch her breath.

"I don't need a pump and I'll prove it!", she murmured as the silverware started gathering around her to see what she was up to. She then took a deep breath, filled her lungs, and pushed the air all the way out and through the valve. So hard did she try, however, that she felt like she was going to faint. No sooner had she opened her mouth again to breathe in, than the air she had pumped came out with so much pressure that the banknotes under her mattress scattered all over the place, and she fell to the ground trying to collect them.

As soon as the silverware realized what had happened, they burst into laughter. They then collected the banknotes that the wind had blown away, and helped the cup get up and clean herself from the coffee that she had spilled.

And so, our good cup learned her lesson: she bought a brand-new bed mattress that was comfortable and cozy, on which she rests at night, at the same time keeping her money safe in the bank. Truth to be told, her sleep is much more enjoyable that way.