The Swan and the Goose

A wealthy man kept both a swan and a goose in his estate’s beautiful pond. The swan was treasured for her graceful beauty and her legendary ability to sing sweetly, while the goose was kept for more practical purposes, as geese were commonly used for their meat and feathers.

The swan spent her days gliding elegantly across the water, admired by all who saw her. The goose, though less celebrated, was perfectly content with her simple life, swimming happily and finding plenty to eat around the pond’s edges.

Both birds lived peacefully together, and despite their different stations in life, they became good friends. The swan never looked down upon the goose, and the goose never envied the swan her privileged position.

One evening, as winter approached, the master of the house decided it was time to prepare a special feast for his guests. He instructed his cook to fetch the goose from the pond, as was the custom when meat was needed for the table.

The cook waited until dusk, when the light was dim and both birds would be roosting quietly by the water’s edge. As he approached the pond with his net, he could barely make out the shapes of the two white birds in the growing darkness.

“Now, which one is the goose?” he muttered to himself, squinting in the twilight. Both birds appeared as pale, graceful shapes on the dark water, and in the poor light, they looked remarkably similar.

The cook decided to approach quietly and simply catch whichever bird he could reach first. As luck would have it, the goose was closer to the shore, and he was able to capture her easily in his net.

“Got you!” he whispered triumphantly, lifting the bird carefully so as not to wake the household.

But as the cook carried the goose toward the kitchen, something unexpected happened. Perhaps sensing her danger, or perhaps simply feeling moved by the beautiful evening, the goose began to sing.

Her voice rose clear and sweet in the night air, a song so pure and melodious that the cook stopped in his tracks, amazed.

“Wait,” he said to himself, “this cannot be the goose! Geese don’t sing like this - only swans possess such beautiful voices. I must have caught the wrong bird in the darkness!”

The goose, unaware that her natural singing voice had just saved her life, continued her song as the cook gently carried her back to the pond.

“Forgive me, noble swan,” he whispered as he released her. “I should have been more careful in the darkness. Your beautiful song revealed my mistake.”

The cook returned to his master and explained that it was too dark to safely distinguish between the swan and the goose, and that he would wait until morning to complete his task.

By morning, the goose had wandered to the far side of the pond, and when the cook returned, he easily identified and caught the correct bird.

But the goose lived on, never knowing that her voice - a gift she had never thought particularly special - had granted her one more precious day of life.

Moral: Hidden talents may prove valuable in unexpected ways. Sometimes what seems ordinary about us may be our greatest asset in times of need.