The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs, illustrated by Milo Winter in a 1919 Aesop anthology

The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs by Aesop

I’m learning that I’m not really much of a fan of Aesop’s fables. There’s just not much to them and the morals are almost too obvious. Re-tellings seem to be a little better, but I didn’t find one for today’s fable, which tells of a couple who make a really bad decision.

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. Then, they thought, they could obtain the whole store of precious metal at once; however, upon cutting the goose open, they found its innards to be like that of any other goose.

What moral do you want to go with? Greed destroys everything. Think before you act. A goose is just a goose, no matter what color eggs it lays.

Actually it’s almost Easter and this little story made me think of another critter that lays odd eggs.

Tif, from Tif Talks Books, is the hostess of this great feature, Fairy Tale Fridays. Head over there to see her take on The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs and to share your own thoughts. Next week, we’ll be looking at Little Red Riding Hood .

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