The happy fisher and the frustrated advisor

A fisher had finished work early and was sitting next to her boat on the dock. A wealthy business consultant walked by, clearly upset by seeing the woman displaying such laziness.

“Why aren’t you out fishing?”, he inquired forcefully.

The fisher responded: “Because I have caught enough fish for today. My family will eat and I can sell some for profit. Now I’m taking it easy and enjoying the afternoon sun.”

“Why don’t you catch more fish when you have time to spare?”, asked the advisor, somewhat bewildered.

“What would I do with all that fish?”, she wondered.

“You could sell it and make more profit. With that money you could buy a bigger engine for your boat. You could go further out to sea, fish on deeper waters, catch more fish and buy nylon nets. That could give you even more fish and make you even more money! Soon you’d have enough money to buy another boat. You could create a whole fishing fleet, sell it and make a fortune.”

“And then what would I do?”, the fisher pondered under her hat.

“Then you can relax, unwind and enjoy life!“, he explained.

“Well, what do you think I’m doing now?”, she laughed.

This is a concise, modernized version of of the old parable of the businessman and the fisherman. As far as I know it’s popular in Brazil, but sadly the original author seems to be unknown.