the model millionare by oscar wilde

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hughie erskine, who was a charming and attractive young man, was unfortunately not very successful in business and therefore did not have much money. he was in love with a beautiful girl called laura merton that her father had demanded  £10,000 to allow them to marry. one day hughie went to visit his friend alan trevor, he was an artist. trevor was just putting the finishing touches to a portrait of a beggar. the beggar, he was wearing torn, shabby old clothes and holding out his hat for money, looked sad and tired. "poor old man", thought hughie, "he looks so miserable", and gave the man a pound which it was all the money he had. the beggar smiled and said, "thank you, sir, thank you". hughie spent the rest of the day with laura, she was annoyed because he had given away his last pound and he had to walk home because he had no money for a bus. the next day he went to a bar where he met alan trevor there. trevor told him that the "beggar" was in reality baron hausberg who his financial skills had made him a millionaire. hughie felt deeply embarrassed about giving him the pound. the following day he received an envelope from the baron, it had a cheque for £10,000 inside it. the message on the envelope said: "a wedding present to hughie and laura from an old beggar".

it's one my favourite of oscar wilde's aphorisms;

"there are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up"