The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs

Once upon a time, there lived a poor farmer who worked hard every day just to put food on his table. He had a small cottage, a tiny garden, and very few possessions. Despite his poverty, he was generally content with his simple life, though he often worried about how he would survive when he grew too old to work.

One morning, as the farmer was going about his daily chores, he made an extraordinary discovery. In the corner of his chicken coop, his old white goose had laid an egg that gleamed like the sun. At first, he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him in the early morning light.

“That can’t be real,” he muttered to himself, rubbing his eyes and looking again.

But when he picked up the egg, he gasped in amazement. It was heavy—much heavier than any normal egg should be. The farmer examined it carefully, turning it over in his weathered hands. The surface was smooth and lustrous, and it had the unmistakable gleam of pure gold.

Hardly daring to believe his good fortune, the farmer rushed into town to visit the goldsmith. After careful examination, the goldsmith confirmed what the farmer had hoped: the egg was indeed made of solid gold and was worth more money than the farmer had ever seen in his entire life.

The farmer returned home in a daze, clutching the coins he had received for the golden egg. For the first time in years, he was able to buy plenty of food, repair his leaky roof, and even purchase some new clothes.

The next morning, the farmer hurried to the chicken coop with eager anticipation. To his delight and amazement, there was another golden egg waiting for him! The goose looked at him with bright, intelligent eyes, almost as if she understood the gift she was giving.

Day after day, the magical goose continued to lay one golden egg each morning. The farmer’s life was transformed. He was able to pay off his debts, improve his farm, and live more comfortably than he had ever dreamed possible. Word of his good fortune spread throughout the village, and people began to treat him with new respect.

As the weeks passed, however, the farmer began to grow impatient. “One egg a day is wonderful,” he thought to himself, “but imagine how rich I could be if I had all the gold at once! Surely there must be a treasure trove of gold inside this goose.”

The farmer started to calculate how much wealth he was missing out on by waiting for just one egg each day. “At this rate, it will take me years to become truly wealthy,” he grumbled. “There must be dozens, maybe even hundreds of golden eggs inside that goose. Why should I wait when I could have them all right now?”

His contentment began to turn into greed. He found himself lying awake at night, imagining all the golden eggs that must be stored inside the goose, just waiting to make him the richest man in the land.

The daily golden egg, which had once seemed like a miracle, now felt insufficient. Instead of being grateful for his incredible good fortune, the farmer became obsessed with getting more, faster.

Finally, his greed overcame his patience entirely. “I’ve been foolish to wait this long,” he decided. “I’m going to get all those golden eggs at once!”

Early one morning, before the goose had laid her daily egg, the farmer grabbed the poor bird and took her to his kitchen. With trembling hands and a heart full of greedy anticipation, he took up his knife.

“Forgive me, goose,” he said, though his greed had made him deaf to the voice of compassion, “but I need all that gold now.”

With one swift motion, he cut open the goose, expecting to find a cavity filled with golden eggs that would make him the wealthiest man alive.

But when he looked inside the goose, his heart sank with horror and regret. There was nothing there—no golden eggs, no treasure, nothing but the ordinary insides of an ordinary goose. The magical goose looked exactly the same inside as any other goose.

The farmer stared in shock at what he had done. In his greed for instant wealth, he had destroyed the source of his steady, reliable income. There would be no more golden eggs—not that day, not ever again.

The farmer sat down heavily, holding the lifeless goose in his arms, and began to cry. He realized that his greed had cost him everything. Instead of being content with one golden egg per day, which would have made him wealthy over time, he now had nothing at all.

“I had everything I needed,” he wept. “One golden egg each day would have provided for me for the rest of my life. But I wanted it all at once, and now I have nothing.”

The farmer learned too late that steady progress is better than the dream of instant wealth, and that greed can destroy even the most wonderful blessings.

From that day forward, whenever the villagers saw someone acting impatiently or greedily, they would remind them of the farmer and his goose, saying, “Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.”

Moral: Greed can destroy the source of good fortune. Those who want everything at once may end up with nothing at all. It’s better to be patient and content with steady progress than to risk losing everything for the promise of instant wealth.