The Truth in Stories

I was listening to the Crane Wife, parts one, two and three by the Decemberists when I got the idea to look for the actual story online. There's one version here.

I suppose I've seen this occur in real life, when people do something selfless, are rewarded by some force for it, and then greed takes it away from them.

I suppose I was really wondering, what stories have you seen be true to life?