** spoiler alert ** 
 This is a very short parable, that makes you think about how money isn't everything. 
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 Kino the main character is a poor Indian, and has the responsibility of being a husband and father. Kino's son becomes bitten by a scorpion. Kino then goes in search of a pearl and manages to find one. 
 Kino hopes he can use the wealth gained from selling the pearl to pay for his son's treatment. The doctor initially doesn't want to treat the ill child because of his race difference. The doctor however becomes interested in treating the child after hearing of the pearl. The doctor poisons Kino's son and then comes with the antidote later. The doctor tries to use his visits to Kino's son to steel the pearl. 
 Kino later tries selling the Pearl to dealers, but becomes unsatisfied by what he is offered. His greed makes him fantasise about what he will do with the money he gets after selling the pearl: sending his son to school, buying clothes, having a church wedding and buying a rife. Kino forgets about the things that are really important and ends up murdering. The story ends with his son getting shot. In the end Kino throws the pearl away. 
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 This is a moving book. It makes you realise that you should be satisfied with what you have. It shows that having wealth can make people become greedy and unsatisfied with what they have already.