In the Grimm tale Hans im Glück, Hans receives a lump of gold as big as his head for seven years of work. On the way home he trades the gold for a horse, the horse for a cow, the cow for a pig, the pig for a goose, and the goose for a whetstone. A field stone is added, and at the end both stones fall into a well.
Hans is not unhappy. “So glücklich wie ich”, he cries, “giebt es keinen Menschen unter der Sonne.” There is no one under the sun as happy as I am.
Each trade seems good to Hans at the moment he makes it. Each trade also leaves him with less.