The poor may be unfortunate but not stupid, and recognize a good deal when it is offered.

In a large city, there once lived a poor married couple. Every morning, the wife would get on her knees, and pray to God: "Please, oh Lord, we are so poor we haven't enough to eat. Can you spare a hundred dollars? I won't take any less, not even ninety nine." Every day, she repeated the same prayer.

In the apartment above, there lived a wealthy family. Every day they heard their neighbor pleading with God. One day, the wife said to her husband, "I don't believe that woman. Besides I'm tired of listening to her complaints. I'm going to leave her ninety nine dollars, and see if she really means what she says." That afternoon, she put the money in a purse, and dropped it on the poor woman's window sill fully expecting her to reject it.

In due time, the poor woman found the purse, and counted out the money. "Dear God," she said, falling on her knees, "you have given me only ninety nine dollars instead of the hundred I asked for. But I am grateful anyway, and I accept this gift with many thanks."

And the neighbors in the floor above, well, you can imagine how foolish they felt -- but they bore their loss graciously, and never breathed a word about it to anyone.