"The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs" is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 87 in the Perry Index, a story that also has a number of Eastern analogues. Many other stories contain geese that lay golden eggs, though certain versions change them for hens or other birds that lay golden eggs. The tale has given rise to the idiom 'killing the goose that lays the golden eggs', which refers to the short-sighted destruction of a valuable resource, or to an unprofitable action motivated by greed.
The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs, illustrated by Milo Winter in a 1919 edition
Avianus and Caxton tell different stories of a goose that lays a golden egg, where other versions have a hen,[1] as in Townsend: "A cottager and his wife had a Hen that laid a golden egg every day. They supposed that the Hen must contain a great lump of gold in its inside, and in order to get the gold they killed [her]. Having done so, they found to their surprise that the Hen differed in no respect from their other hens. The foolish pair, thus hoping to become rich all at once, deprived themselves of the gain of which they were assured day by day."[2]
In early tellings, there is sometimes a commentary warning against greed rather than a pithy moral. This is so in Jean de La Fontaine's fable of La Poule aux oeufs d'or (Fables V.13),[3] which begins with the sentiment that 'Greed loses all by striving all to gain' and comments at the end that the story can be applied to those who become poor by trying to outreach themselves. It is only later that the morals most often quoted today began to appear. These are 'Greed oft o’er reaches itself' (Joseph Jacobs, 1894)[4] and 'Much wants more and loses all' (Samuel Croxall, 1722).[5] It is notable also that these are stories told of a goose rather than a hen.
The English idiom "Kill not the goose that lays the golden egg",[6] sometimes shortened to "killing the golden goose", derives from this fable. It is generally used of a short-sighted action that destroys the profitability of an asset. Caxton's version of the story has the goose's owner demand that it lay two eggs a day; when it replied that it could not, the owner killed it.[7] The same lesson is taught by Ignacy Krasicki's different fable of "The Farmer":
illustration for Jean de La Fontaine's fables by Gustave Doré
A farmer, bent on doubling the profits from his land, Proceeded to set his soil a two-harvest demand. Too intent thus on profit, harm himself he must needs: Instead of corn, he now reaps corn-cockle and weeds.
There is another variant on the story, recorded by Syntipas (Perry Index 58) and appearing in Roger L'Estrange's 1692 telling as "A Woman and a Fat Hen" (Fable 87): A good Woman had a Hen that laid her every day an Egg. Now she fansy’d to her self, that upon a larger Allowance of Corn, this Hen might be brought in time to lay twice a day. She try’d the Experiment; but the Hen grew fat upon’t, and gave quite over laying. His comment on this is that 'we should set Bounds to our Desires, and content our selves when we are well, for fear of losing what we had.' Another of Aesop's fables with the moral of wanting more and losing everything is The Dog and the Bone.
Eastern instancesEdit
An Eastern analogue is found in the Suvannahamsa Jataka,[8] which appears in the fourth section of the Buddhist book of monastic discipline (Vinaya). In this the father of a poor family is reborn as a swan with golden feathers and invites them to pluck and sell a single feather from his wings to support themselves, returning occasionally to allow them another. The greedy mother of the family eventually plucks all the feathers at once, but they then turn to ordinary feathers; when the swan recovers its feathers they too are no longer gold.[9] The moral drawn there is:
Contented be, nor itch for further store. They seized the swan – but had its gold no more.
North of India, in the formerly Persian territory of Sogdiana, it was the Greek version of the story that was known. Among the 8th-century murals in Panjakent, in the western Sugdh province of Tajikistan, there is a panel from room 1, sector 21, representing a series of scenes moving from right to left where it is possible to recognize the same person first in the act of checking a golden egg and later killing the animal in order to get more eggs, only to understand the stupidity of his idea at the very end of the sequence. A local version of the story still persists in the area but ends differently with the main character eventually becoming a king.[10]
In the Mahabharata a story is recounted of wild birds that spit gold, and were discovered by a man who soon strangled them "out of greed".[11]
Use in the artsEdit
The French text was set as the fourth of Rudolf Koumans' Vijf fabels van La Fontaine for children's choir and orchestra (Op. 25 1968). Yassen Vodenitcharov (1964-) has created a chamber opera from the story (2004).
The majority of illustrations of "The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs" picture the farmer despairing after discovering that he has killed the goose to no purpose. It was also one of several fables applied to political issues by the American illustrator Thomas Nast. Captioned Always killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, it appeared in Harpers Weekly for March 16, 1878.[12] There the picture of the baffled farmer, advised by a 'Communistic Statesman', referred to the rail strike of 1877. The farmer stands for the politically driven union members whose wife and children sorrow in the background.
Two postage stamps have also featured the fable. Burundi's 1987 set of children's tales uses Gustave Doré's picture of the despairing farmer holding the body of the slaughtered goose (see above).[13] The fable later appears on the 73 pence value from a Jersey set celebrating the bicentenary of Hans Christian Andersen in 2005, although "The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg" never figured among his stories.[14]
Aesop's Fables, a new translation by V. S. Vernon Jones (London: W. Heinemann, 1912), p. 2.
^"The Man And The Golden Eggs". Mythfolklore.net. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
^"163. The Hen and the Golden Eggs (Perry 87)". Mythfolklore.net. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
^"13. The Hen With The Golden Eggs [17]". Oaks.nvg.org. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
^"Jacobs 57. The Goose With the Golden Eggs (Perry 87)". Mythfolklore.net. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
^Available on Google Books, pp.228-9 books.google.co.uk
^Marvin, Dwight Edwards (1922). The Antiquity of Proverbs: Fifty Familiar Proverbs and Folk Sayings with Annotations and Lists of Connected Forms, Found in All Parts of the World. G. P. Putnam's Sons. pp. 188–189.
^"Avyan 24. Of the goos and of her lord (Perry 87)". Mythfolklore.net. Retrieved 2011-10-17.
^Beck, Jerry; Friedwald, Will (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. Henry Holt and Co. p. 213. ISBN0-8050-0894-2.
^"RYABA My Chicken". konchalovsky.ru. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
External linksEdit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs.
15th-20th century book illustrations at Flickr
Story online
Audio book for download
October 15, 2023
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Not to be confused with The Golden Goose Golden Egg redirects here For other uses see Golden Egg disambiguation The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs is one of Aesop s Fables numbered 87 in the Perry Index a story that also has a number of Eastern analogues Many other stories contain geese that lay golden eggs though certain versions change them for hens or other birds that lay golden eggs The tale has given rise to the idiom killing the goose that lays the golden eggs which refers to the short sighted destruction of a valuable resource or to an unprofitable action motivated by greed The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs illustrated by Milo Winter in a 1919 edition Contents 1 Story and moral 2 Eastern instances 3 Use in the arts 3 1 Films 4 References 5 External linksStory and moral EditAvianus and Caxton tell different stories of a goose that lays a golden egg where other versions have a hen 1 as in Townsend A cottager and his wife had a Hen that laid a golden egg every day They supposed that the Hen must contain a great lump of gold in its inside and in order to get the gold they killed her Having done so they found to their surprise that the Hen differed in no respect from their other hens The foolish pair thus hoping to become rich all at once deprived themselves of the gain of which they were assured day by day 2 In early tellings there is sometimes a commentary warning against greed rather than a pithy moral This is so in Jean de La Fontaine s fable of La Poule aux oeufs d or Fables V 13 3 which begins with the sentiment that Greed loses all by striving all to gain and comments at the end that the story can be applied to those who become poor by trying to outreach themselves It is only later that the morals most often quoted today began to appear These are Greed oft o er reaches itself Joseph Jacobs 1894 4 and Much wants more and loses all Samuel Croxall 1722 5 It is notable also that these are stories told of a goose rather than a hen The English idiom Kill not the goose that lays the golden egg 6 sometimes shortened to killing the golden goose derives from this fable It is generally used of a short sighted action that destroys the profitability of an asset Caxton s version of the story has the goose s owner demand that it lay two eggs a day when it replied that it could not the owner killed it 7 The same lesson is taught by Ignacy Krasicki s different fable of The Farmer nbsp illustration for Jean de La Fontaine s fables by Gustave DoreA farmer bent on doubling the profits from his land Proceeded to set his soil a two harvest demand Too intent thus on profit harm himself he must needs Instead of corn he now reaps corn cockle and weeds There is another variant on the story recorded by Syntipas Perry Index 58 and appearing in Roger L Estrange s 1692 telling as A Woman and a Fat Hen Fable 87 A good Woman had a Hen that laid her every day an Egg Now she fansy d to her self that upon a larger Allowance of Corn this Hen might be brought in time to lay twice a day She try d the Experiment but the Hen grew fat upon t and gave quite over laying His comment on this is that we should set Bounds to our Desires and content our selves when we are well for fear of losing what we had Another of Aesop s fables with the moral of wanting more and losing everything is The Dog and the Bone Eastern instances EditAn Eastern analogue is found in the Suvannahamsa Jataka 8 which appears in the fourth section of the Buddhist book of monastic discipline Vinaya In this the father of a poor family is reborn as a swan with golden feathers and invites them to pluck and sell a single feather from his wings to support themselves returning occasionally to allow them another The greedy mother of the family eventually plucks all the feathers at once but they then turn to ordinary feathers when the swan recovers its feathers they too are no longer gold 9 The moral drawn there is Contented be nor itch for further store They seized the swan but had its gold no more North of India in the formerly Persian territory of Sogdiana it was the Greek version of the story that was known Among the 8th century murals in Panjakent in the western Sugdh province of Tajikistan there is a panel from room 1 sector 21 representing a series of scenes moving from right to left where it is possible to recognize the same person first in the act of checking a golden egg and later killing the animal in order to get more eggs only to understand the stupidity of his idea at the very end of the sequence A local version of the story still persists in the area but ends differently with the main character eventually becoming a king 10 In the Mahabharata a story is recounted of wild birds that spit gold and were discovered by a man who soon strangled them out of greed 11 Use in the arts EditThe French text was set as the fourth of Rudolf Koumans Vijf fabels van La Fontaine for children s choir and orchestra Op 25 1968 Yassen Vodenitcharov 1964 has created a chamber opera from the story 2004 The majority of illustrations of The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs picture the farmer despairing after discovering that he has killed the goose to no purpose It was also one of several fables applied to political issues by the American illustrator Thomas Nast Captioned Always killing the goose that lays the golden eggs it appeared in Harpers Weekly for March 16 1878 12 There the picture of the baffled farmer advised by a Communistic Statesman referred to the rail strike of 1877 The farmer stands for the politically driven union members whose wife and children sorrow in the background Two postage stamps have also featured the fable Burundi s 1987 set of children s tales uses Gustave Dore s picture of the despairing farmer holding the body of the slaughtered goose see above 13 The fable later appears on the 73 pence value from a Jersey set celebrating the bicentenary of Hans Christian Andersen in 2005 although The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg never figured among his stories 14 Films Edit The theme of a duck goose or hen laying a golden egg but not the traditional plot line was taken up in films in both the United States and Russia In Golden Yeggs Warner Bros 1950 it was given cartoon treatment 15 while it provided a comedy MacGuffin in The Million Dollar Duck Walt Disney Productions 1971 The Russian comedy Assia and the Hen with the Golden Eggs Kurochka Ryaba 1994 takes a slightly satirical look at small village jealousy in post Soviet times 16 References EditAesop s Fables a new translation by V S Vernon Jones London W Heinemann 1912 p 2 The Man And The Golden Eggs Mythfolklore net Retrieved 2011 10 17 163 The Hen and the Golden Eggs Perry 87 Mythfolklore net Retrieved 2011 10 17 13 The Hen With The Golden Eggs 17 Oaks nvg org Retrieved 2011 10 17 Jacobs 57 The Goose With the Golden Eggs Perry 87 Mythfolklore net Retrieved 2011 10 17 Available on Google Books pp 228 9 books google co uk Marvin Dwight Edwards 1922 The Antiquity of Proverbs Fifty Familiar Proverbs and Folk Sayings with Annotations and Lists of Connected Forms Found in All Parts of the World G P Putnam s Sons pp 188 189 Avyan 24 Of the goos and of her lord Perry 87 Mythfolklore net Retrieved 2011 10 17 Suvannahamsa Jataka 136 Sacred texts com Retrieved 2011 10 17 No 136 Suvaṇṇahaṁsa Jataka See Matteo Compareti s description of the murals at vitterhetsakad se Mahabharata 2 55 10 Buitenen translation vol 2 p 132 Always Killing the Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs Sophia smith edu Retrieved 2011 10 17 Creighton University HCA Gilead Beck Jerry Friedwald Will 1989 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros Cartoons Henry Holt and Co p 213 ISBN 0 8050 0894 2 RYABA My Chicken konchalovsky ru Retrieved 23 December 2018 External links Edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs 15th 20th century book illustrations at Flickr Story online Audio book for download Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs amp oldid 1178411994, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
