Section 2
The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs explained simply
Aesop's Fables by Aesop
Original excerpt
Excerpt preview
A Man and his Wife had the good fortune to possess a Goose which laid a Golden Egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough, and, imagining the bird must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it in order to secure the whole store...
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Public-domain original
A Man and his Wife had the good fortune to possess a Goose which laid
a Golden Egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to
think they were not getting rich fast enough, and, imagining the bird
must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it in order to
secure the whole store of precious metal at once. But when they cut it
open they found it was just like any other goose. Thus, they neither
got rich all at once, as they had hoped, nor enjoyed any longer the
daily addition to their wealth.
Much wants more and loses all.
Public-domain original text shown for study context.
What happens here
A couple kills their goose to get all the gold at once and loses the source of their wealth.
Why this scene matters
This fable matters because it teaches how greed can destroy the steady good thing that already exists.
Characters in this scene
- The man and his wife: The owners whose impatience ruins their fortune.
- The goose: The bird that produces one golden egg at a time.
Simple story version
A goose lays one golden egg each day. Its owners want all the gold at once, so they kill it and end up with nothing.