Buried treasure originates and ends in misfortune. The standard tale starts with calamity: Privateers ransack a merchant ship, then wreck themselves on jagged shoals. A survivor buries the plunder before returning to civilization, but hard living prevents its recovery. Deathbed revelations to a trusted friend offer cryptic instructions—a hint hoarsely whispered, a crudely scrawled cipher, a map sketched on parchment. The eager recipient exhausts finances and sanity seeking untold wealth, then passes the dream on. At last, a dogged scavenger This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Eight Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 48 Jordan Casteel The acclaimed painter of people—and now plants. Arts & Culture Issue 48 The Sweet Spot How long is the perfect vacation? Arts & Culture Issue 48 Cliff Tan Four questions for a feng shui guru. Arts & Culture Issue 48 Figure Skating with Mirai Nagasu The Olympic athlete has known glory, pain and transcendence on the ice. Arts & Culture Issue 48 Sweet Nothing On the virtues of hanging out. Arts & Culture Issue 48 The Art of Fashion On what artists’ clothes communicate.
Arts & Culture Issue 48 Figure Skating with Mirai Nagasu The Olympic athlete has known glory, pain and transcendence on the ice.
