Dolly the Milkmaid, having been a good and careful worker, was given a pail of fresh milk by her mistress. With the pail balanced on her head, she walked gaily to town to sell it.
"For this milk," Dolly thought, "I shall get a shilling. With that, I will buy twenty eggs from our neighbor's fine fowls. My mistress will surely lend me a hen, and, allowing for mishaps, I shall raise a dozen chicks. They will be grown by the next fair, when chickens fetch the highest price. I shall sell them for a guinea. Then I will buy that sweater, hat, and ribbons I saw in the village. How smart I shall be at the fair! Robin will be there and offer to be friends again. But I won't come round too easily. When he asks me to dance, I shall just toss up my head and—"
At that moment, Dolly gave her head the slightest toss. Down came the pail, and all the milk spilled onto the ground. Poor Dolly! It was goodbye to eggs, chickens, sweater, hat, ribbons, and all.
Moral: Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.