I read a short story some time ago about how a pearl brought nothing but bad luck. The person who found it ended up tossing it back in the ocean.
IIRC it was 'The Black Pearl'. Flemming and John did a song about it.
The Pearl
Oh look I’ve found it,
Oh I’ve really found it,
How could such a thing be happening to me?
Oh please don’t drop it,
I’d die if you lost it,
You see it means the world to me.
Now everything we ever wanted,
Lies within our reach.
Patiently anticipating,
The world lies at our feet.
It could be the pearl,
It could be our hope, our dream, our life
It could be the pearl,
The end of all our pain and strife could be the pearl
Run, keep on running,
Oh I hear them coming,
How could they try to take what is ours?
Please run faster,
Oh they’re right behind us,
How much farther can we go?
It possesses me, controls me,
It makes me run, it makes me kill.
The very thing that made me strong,
Has taken all my will.
It could be the pearl,
Tt could be our hope, our dream, our life.
Tt could be the pearl,
The end of all our pain and strife could be the pearl.
I must take it, throw it in the ocean,
Far, far away from me,
We were happy, oh we were so happy,
When things were the way they used to be.
It could be the pearl,
It could be our hope, our dream, our life.
It could be the pearl,
The end of all our pain and strife could be the pearl.
John Steinbeck's short novel The Pearl comes to mind.