English Original
A man carved a wooden image of Mercury and put it up for sale in the marketplace. When no one showed interest in buying it, he tried to attract customers by loudly praising the image's virtues. He cried out, "A god for sale! A god for sale! He brings luck and keeps you lucky!"
A bystander stopped him and asked, "If this god is as wonderful as you claim, why don't you keep him and benefit from him yourself?"
The man replied, "I'll tell you why. It's true he brings gain, but he does so slowly. I need money right away."
中文翻译
有个人雕刻了一尊墨丘利（Mercury）的木像，拿到集市上出售。见无人问津，他便试图通过大声宣扬神像的功效来招揽顾客。他吆喝道："卖神啦！卖神啦！他能带来好运，让你一直幸运！"
一位旁观者拦住他，问道："如果这尊神像真如你所说的那么灵验，你为何不留着自己用，好从中获益呢？"
那人回答道："我告诉你为什么。他确实能带来好处，但动作太慢了。而我需要立刻拿到钱。"