Once, a princess lost her beautiful precious diamond necklace. People searched everywhere but could not find it. Some said that a bird might have stolen it. The king announced a huge reward for the one who finds it. One day, a clerk was walking home along a river, which was muddy, polluted, filthy and smelly. To his astonishment, the clerk saw a shimmering in the river and when he looked into it, he saw the diamond necklace. He understood that it is the same necklace that the princess had lost and it is going to fetch for him a good fortune. He put his hand in the filthy, dirty river and tried to grab the necklace, but somehow missed it. He took his hand out and looked again and the necklace was still there. Next time he walked into the filthy river and tried to take the necklace. But strangely enough, he still missed the necklace!
He came out and started walking away, feeling depressed, but thinking to take some dependable help. His dress had become so dirty. Just then a saint, who was walking by, saw him and asked what the matter was. The clerk mustered some courage and decided to put some faith in the saint. He told the saint about the necklace and how he tried for it but failed each time. The saint then told him that people might lose common sense when over ambitious. He looked up to the branch of the tree on the river bank there. The clerk also looked up to see the necklace dangling on that branch, just over the water, where he saw the necklace first.