The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs
- 2 minute read
- Ages 5-9
- Aesop's Fables
A farmer and his wife kept a goose in the yard along with the hens.
One morning the farmer went out to the shed and found, in the goose's nest, an egg made of solid gold.
He did not believe it. He carried it into the house and turned it over and over in the light, and his wife did the same, and then they took it into town, and it was gold.
Every single morning
The next morning there was another one.
And the morning after that.
Every day, without fail, the goose laid one golden egg. The farmer sold them one at a time and the money came in steadily, and within a year they had a better house, and land, and everything they had ever wanted.
And it was not enough.
Waiting is slow
The farmer began to think about the goose.
One egg a day. Only one. There must be gold inside her, he thought — a great store of it, all of it just sitting there, coming out a spoonful at a time.
Why should he wait years for what was already in there?
His wife said he should leave it alone. He said he had thought it through.
Inside
He took the goose into the shed and killed her, and opened her up to get the gold.
There was no gold. Inside, she was exactly like every other goose that had ever lived.
He stood there with nothing in his hands.
There was no gold in the shed and there would be no egg the next morning, or the morning after that, or ever again.
Moral of the story
Greed destroys the thing it wants. A small gain every day is worth more than one large gain you can only take once.
Questions and answers
- What did the farmer find in the goose's nest?
He found an egg made of solid gold, and then another one every single morning after that.
- How did the golden eggs change the farmer's life?
Within a year he had a better house, land and everything he had wanted, because he sold one egg at a time.
- Why was the farmer not satisfied?
He became impatient. He believed there was a large store of gold inside the goose and did not want to wait years to collect it a day at a time.
- What did the farmer find inside the goose?
Nothing. She was exactly like an ordinary goose, with no gold inside her at all.
- What did the farmer lose in the end?
He lost everything. There was no gold in the goose and no more eggs would ever come.
Word meanings
- solid
- Made completely of one material all the way through.
- steadily
- Happening regularly and without stopping.
- greed
- Wanting far more of something than you need.
- impatient
- Unwilling to wait calmly for something.
Questions about The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs
What is the moral of The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs?
The moral is that greed can destroy a good thing. By trying to get everything at once, the farmer lost the steady wealth he already had.
What does the phrase 'killing the goose that lays the golden eggs' mean?
It means ruining something valuable that was giving you a steady benefit, usually by being greedy or impatient with it.
Why did the farmer think there was gold inside the goose?
He assumed the eggs had to come from a store of gold in her body, rather than being made fresh each day.
Is this fable about money only?
No. It applies to anything that gives steady value over time, such as a skill, a friendship or a business, that can be ruined by rushing it.