Buying a good horse
There was a king who was willing to pay a thousand pieces of gold for a horse that could run a thousand mile without stopping. For three years he tried in vain to find such a steed.
Then someone offered let me look for a horse for Your Majesty. The king agreed to this. After three months this man came back, having spent five hundred pieces of gold on a horse’s skull. The king was most enraged. I want a live horse he roared. What use is a dead horse to me? Why spend five hundred pieces of gold on nothing?
But the man replied if you will spend five hundred pieces of gold on a dead horse, won’t you give much more for a live one? When people hear of this, they will know you are really willing to pay for a good horse, and will quickly send you their best.
Sure enough, in less than a year the king succeeded in buying three excellent horses.