The Goose with the Golden Egg

Don’t get greedy when things are going well.

Introduction

THE story of a man whose impatience and greed cost him everything.

ONCE upon a time, there was a villager who kept a goose. One morning he went to her nest to find an egg, and discovered that she had laid an egg of pure gold.

Immediately, a thought suggested itself. To lay a golden egg, his goose must surely be carrying around a vast lump of gold.

So instead of waiting until the next morning, he killed her and rummaged around for the gold he so confidently expected.

But he found that everything inside was completely normal.

And the moral of that is, that anyone who snatches too eagerly after some great prize will lose the little he already has.

Based on the Greek of Babrius (2nd century AD).
Précis
A farmer found that his goose had laid an egg of pure gold. Hoping to get at once all the gold that goose had to give, he killed her, but found nothing inside. If he had been less greedy, he might have had a golden egg every morning.
Sevens

Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.

Where did the farmer find the egg?

Read Next

Srinivasa Ramanujan

A maths prodigy from Madras became so wrapped up in his sums that he forgot to pass his examinations.

Youth and Age

Sir Hubert Parry was delighted to see teachers and pupils pushing each other to do better.

Thus Was the Empire Born

According to Kipling, the British Empire was the last resort of Englishmen who could not stand conditions at home.