Mr. Gold wasted no time. Off he went, striding down the hall as fast as his legs could carry him, to his main vault. He came back with both arms laden, carrying a huge, overflowing sack of glittering gold coins. 'Here we go!' he cried, quite pleased with himself. He held the little grey pot firmly and began to pour in the coins, one after another, with a satisfying clink, clink, clink.
He poured and poured, until the whole sack was empty. 'There!' he declared, looking into the pot. But to his utter astonishment, the pot looked... empty. Not a single coin remained inside. It was truly extraordinary, as if the pot had simply swallowed them whole!
'I say!' he gasped, his eyes wide. 'That's very odd indeed!' He ran back to his vault, gathering up handfuls of shimmering diamonds and sparkling rubies, his most prized possessions. He carefully dropped them into the pot, one by one, watching them tumble in. A shimmering light seemed to flicker inside the pot as they vanished.