Patty the Milkmaid was going to market carrying her milk in a Pail on her head. As she went along she began calculating what she would do with the money she would get for the milk. "I'll buy some fowls from Farmer Brown," said she, "and they will lay eggs each morning, which I will sell to the parson's wife. With the money that I get from the sale of these eggs I'll buy myself a new dimity frock and a chip hat; and when I go to market, won't all the young men come up and speak to me! Polly Shaw will be that jealous; but I don't care. I shall just look at her and toss my head like this. As she spoke she tossed her head back, the Pail fell off it, and all the milk was spilt. So she had to go home and tell her mother what had occurred. "Ah, my child," said the mother,
很多山羊被牧羊人赶到羊圈裡。有一隻山羊不知在吃甚麽好东西，单独落在后面。牧羊人拿起一块石头扔了过去，正巧打断了山羊的一隻角。牧羊人吓得请求山羊不要告诉主人，山羊说：「即使我不说，又怎能隐瞒下去呢？我的角已断了，这是十分明显的事实。」
"Do not count your chickens before they are hatched."
这个故事带出的启示就是：明显的罪状是无法隐瞒的。