nothing in a moshal is what it appears rather a symbol for something else, think bigger.
Ok, so you are looking for bigger and more creative.
I will explain it:
Ahhh. But it doesn’t say what his goal is. We will discuss that.
He was ushered in and began to explain his keen desire to break into the exclusive group of collectors and art patrons he had been pursuing for so many years.
He wants to “break in”. Why is he telling an art dealer that he is a thief? Perhaps he sells his stolen goods to the art dealer.
Why did he make him gaze at the door? Why not just tell him to go through the door?
This was apparently a form of witchcraft.
If it held only fragments, how did it look like anything? How does a frame hold fragments? Don’t they fall?
This is an allusion to the luchos which were carved all the way through and yet the pieces did not fall out.
Everyone knows the Mona Lisa is not a painting but a photocopy. I have seen it numerous times always as a photocopy.
This is an allusion to water which sometimes shows reflected trees and mountains, yet is not a tree or mountain.
To a thief, any price is too high. So why did he ask a price? Because even when you steal it is important to know the value of what you have.
Now, to return to the original question: What was Larry’s goal that he hoped to fulfill?
He wanted to become a basketball player.
The story does not say he hoped to fulfill the goal here- it just says he was currently filled with hope that he would fulfill the goal.
The moral of the story is to not assume anything.