The Goose and the Golden Eggs. There was an old woman who had a goose that laid a golden egg for her each and every day. The woman, however, was very greedy: she concluded that the goose must have a goldmine in his guts and, hoping for even more gain, she killed him on the spot. Then, when she inspected his guts and found only one golden egg in there, she realized she had been deceived by her own foolish hopes and cried, "Woe is me: what guilt I feel for the crime I have committed! Not being content with my moderate profit, I have gone and lost it all."
Anser et Ova Aurea. Anus quaedam anserem alebat, qui illi quotidie ovum aureum excludebat. Anus avarissima, existimans anserem habuisse in visceribus fodinam auream, cupiditate commota, anserem confestim interfecit et, cum viscera perscrutabatur et unicum tantum ovum deprehenderat, spe sublactata inani, exclamabat, "O me infelicem, tantae crudelitatis consciam, quae, non modico contenta lucro, iam omnia perdiderim."
Notes. This is Barlow 96, which is Perry 87 in Perry's classification scheme. This is one of the most famous of all the Aesop's fables, although many people do not realize that "the goose that laid the golden eggs" is part of the Aesopic tradition. For an intriguing Indian parallel, consider the jataka tale of the bird with the golden feathers.
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