Goose That Laid Golden Eggs

A farmer’s life took a wondrous turn the day a goose of extraordinary talent came into his care. Unlike any other, this magnificent bird gifted him a single, flawless golden egg each and every morning.

“Incredible!” the farmer breathed one day, cradling the gleaming prize. “A golden egg! My worries are over. This alone will fetch a king’s ransom!”

And so it did. Day after day, he sold the eggs, his wealth growing. His life became one of ease and comfort, all thanks to his miraculous goose.

Yet, comfort soon bred discontent. The farmer’s gratitude curdled into greed. “Why must I settle for just one egg a day?” he grumbled to himself. “Just think of the treasure that must be inside her! I wouldn’t just be comfortable—I’d be a king!”

Consumed by this thought, he devised a plan. He would no longer wait for nature’s generosity; he would seize his fortune.

“I will slit this creature open,” he declared, ignoring his wife’s look of horror. “Its belly must be a vault of gold! We will have every egg, all at once!”

“Stop!” his wife pleaded. “This is madness! That goose is the source of our blessing. Do not destroy our luck for a dream!”

But the farmer, blinded by visions of instant wealth, would not hear reason. Without a second thought, he drove the sharp steel into the goose, splitting it open.

His dreams of boundless treasure vanished in an instant. Inside was not a hoard of gold, but only the ordinary insides of a common bird.

A cry of utter despair escaped his lips. “What have I done?” he wailed, staring at the ruin of his own making.

In his greed to have everything at once, he had forfeited everything. The magical goose was gone, and with it, the endless stream of golden eggs that would have secured his future. All that remained was a hollow regret.

Moral of the Story:
“It’s a lesson in valuing what we have. By fixating on the possibility of more, we can make reckless choices that cost us our certain, present-day blessings.”