The Golden Goose

Once there was a poor farmer who had a wonderful goose. Every single morning, the goose laid one beautiful, shiny golden egg!

The farmer would sell the golden eggs at the market and soon became quite rich. He bought a fine house, good clothes, and plenty of food.

But as time passed, the farmer grew greedy. "Why does this goose only lay one egg each day?" he wondered. "I'm sure there must be many more golden eggs inside her. If I get them all at once, I'll be the richest man in the kingdom!"

The farmer grew more impatient every day. "I can't wait for just one egg a day," he grumbled. "I want all the gold NOW!"

One day, his greed became too strong. He grabbed a knife and killed the goose, hoping to find it filled with golden eggs.

But when he cut it open, he found—nothing. Just the insides of an ordinary goose. There were no golden eggs inside at all.

Now the farmer had lost the source of his wealth. The special goose was gone, and with her went his daily golden eggs.

The rich man soon became poor again. He sat in his fine house with no more gold coming in, regretting his foolish greed.

"If only I had been patient and content with what I had," he cried. "My greed has cost me everything."

**Moral Lesson:** Greed destroys what we already have. Be content with your blessings and don't let greed blind you to the good things in your life.