Tuesday 12 November 2013

The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs



'The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs', an illustration by JVL in Aesop's Fables
Jonathan Cape, 1989.

Here is the well known fable suggesting that grasping people often destroy the very thing that is of benefit to them.

The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs
A CERTAIN man had the good fortune to possess a goose that laid a golden egg every day. Dissatisfied with one egg a day, and thinking to obtain the whole treasure at once, he killed the goose, and, cutting her open, found her - just what any other goose would be!

Text: John Coker edition (p112, 1927).
Selected parallels: Babrius 123. Avianus 33. Caxton, Avianus 24.  La Fontaine 5/13. L’Estrange 1/247. Chambry 287. Perry 87. TMI D876.

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