The Golden Goose [More Jataka Tales]
ONCE upon a time there was a Goose who had beautiful golden feathers. Not far away from this Goose lived a poor, a very poor woman, who had two daughters. The Goose saw that they had a hard time to get along and said he to himself:
"If I give
them one after another of my golden feathers, the mother can sell them, and
with the money they bring she and her daughters can then live in comfort."
So away the Goose
flew to the poor woman's house.
Seeing the Goose,
the woman said: "Why do you come here? We have nothing to give you."
"But I have
something to give you," said the Goose. "I will give my feathers, one
by one, and you can sell them for enough so that you and your daughters can
live in comfort."
So saying the Goose
gave her one of his feathers, and then flew away. From time to time he came
back, each time leaving another feather.
The mother and her
daughters sold the beautiful feathers for enough money to keep them in comfort.
But one day the mother said to her daughters: "Let us not trust this
Goose. Some day he may fly away and never come back. Then we should be poor
again. Let us get all of his feathers the very next time he comes."
The daughters said:
"This will hurt the Goose. We will not do such a thing."
But the mother was
greedy. The next time the Golden Goose came she took hold of him with both
hands, and pulled out every one of his feathers.
Now the Golden
Goose has strange feathers. If his feathers are plucked out against his wish,
they no longer remain golden but turn white and are of no more value than
chicken-feathers. The new ones that come in are not golden, but plain white.
As time went on his
feathers grew again, and then he flew away to his home and never came back
again.
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