“Please help us!” pleaded the starving people to the man traveling through the poor town.
“How can I help you?” the man replies.
“We are starving! There is no food here and we are very poor! Give us what money you can spare so that we can buy food.”
The man shakes his head. “The money I have will be spread very thin between all of you. It will be gone in but a week and you will be hungry again.” He pulls off his pack, and shows the people the vast quantity of seeds inside. “Instead, I can show you how to work the lands to grow your own food.”
The people scoff at him, saying that they cannot do that. You can't grow food here and by the time the food does grow, they would already have starved.
The man pleads with them to let them help, but they will hear none of it. Finding his efforts hopeless, the man walks off, away from the town which will not save itself.
A wise man enters the town the next day, who receives the same chorus of cries for help.
The wise man listens to the people asking for assistance. Smiling, he tells them he came here because he has followed the stars for many nights. He tells the townsfolks that he is a legendary alchemist, and he has been receiving visions to follow the stars to find those in need of help.
“How will you help us, o wise alchemist?” a woman questions.
The wise man smiles, and points to the local mountain. “Do you see that mountain?” he asks. The townsfolk nod in unison. “The way a mountain forms is unique. It does so depending on what is contained within the Earth. Do you see how it juts as it does? That happens when there is gold in the nearby Earth.”
“Where?! Where?!” the poor townsfolk cry.
The wise man shakes his head. “I do not know it's exact location, but it must be near this town. Of this I am certain! The ridges of the mountain are so jagged there must be a fortune buried here!”
The townsfolk cheer in rejoice! They are rich! They only need to dig up the gold.
A boy comes up to the wise man and asks how they will find the gold.
The wise man smile. “Ah, I know of a trick. I have these seeds,” he says as he pats his satchel. “They are a special kind of plant that can only be found on one island in the whole world. They contain the essence of gold, and as we all know, like attracts like. Very basic alchemy, that is. When these plants grow, they will sprout in a way that will help us pinpoint the exact location of the gold.”
The villagers nod along, taking in everything the wise man says. He continues to tell them that to ensure that the plants will show where the gold is, they need to be planted over a wide area. Without another word, the villagers all gather their tools and begin tilling the Earth. Row after row they cut into the ground until they have fields and fields ready for the man's special seeds.
He teaches them how to planet them, and the people listen very carefully, knowing how important it is to find that gold. He then teaches them how to water the fields, and how to tend the plants as they rise from the ground.
The people are ecstatic. In no time at all, they will be richer than their wildest dreams. They thank the man, promising to take good care of his special plants. Waving, the wise man walks off, away from the town that would save itself for the right price.
Time passes, and the plants begin to sprout. They don't seem to indicate anything special, but the townsfolk convince themselves that they must wait for them to be fully grown before they reveal anything. They continue watering them, and tending to the fields.
Soon enough, their crops have matured. They study the plants carefully, but nothing seems indicative of where the gold is. In fact, these plants look a lot like wheat!
The townsfolk curse their luck, having been tricked by an evil man. They harvest their wheat and make bread from it, promising to each other not to get taken advantage of by someone so wicked like that again.