The Goose and Her Lord

7.24. De ansere et domino suo
Caxton: Of the goos and of her lord
He that ouer ladeth hym self / is euylle strayned / As this fable sayth / of a man / whiche had a goos / that leyd euery day an egge of gold / The man of auaryce or couetousnes commaunded and bad to her / that euery daye she shold leye two egges / And she sayd to hym / Certaynly / my mayster I maye not / wherfore the man was wrothe with her / and slewe her / wherfore he lost that same grete good / of the whiche dede he was moche sorowful and wrothe / how be it that it was not tyme to shette the stable whan the horses ben loste / & gone /
And he is not wyse / whiche dothe suche a thynge / wherof he shalle repente hym afterward / ne he also / whiche doth his owne dommage for to auenge hym self on somme other / For by cause that he supposeth to wynne al / he leseth al that he hath
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The Goose with the Golden Eggs

110. THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLDEN EGGS. A certain man had the good fortune to possess a Goose that laid him a Golden Egg every day. But dissatisfied with so slow an income, and thinking to seize the whole treasure at once, he killed the Goose; and cutting her open, found her — just what any other goose would be!
Much wants more and loses all. [more info]

The Hen who Laid the Golden Eggs

132. THE HEN WHO LAID THE GOLDEN EGGS. You will find the fable in English on this page; scroll to see if there are multiple English versions. [more info]

The Hen with the Golden Eggs

10. THE HEN WITH GOLDEN EGGS. A certain Hen was in the habit of laying a golden egg every day. Her owner, thinking that she must contain a great lump of gold, cut her throat in order to get it. On opening her body, it was found that the Hen was like all other hens, and the simple owner, thus hoping to become suddenly rich, was deprived of the gain of which she had been daily assured. MORAL. Many people strive to grow rich suddenly. and missing their aim, lose all they possess. [more info]

The Man and his Goose

057. THE MAN AND HIS GOOSE. A certain man had a goose, which laid him a golden egg every day; but not contented with this, which rather increased than abated his avarice, he was resolved to kill the goose, and cut up her belly, so that he might come at the inexhaustible treasure which he fancied she had within her. He did so, and to his great sorrow and disappointment found nothing. [more info]

The Goose with the Golden Eggs

10. THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLDEN EGGS. Once upon a time a greedy and avaricious man had a goose. This goose every single day of her life, laid him a golden egg. But the man, not content with this, grew greedier than ever, till at last he said to himself, "If I kill the goose, I shall be able to have all the golden eggs that are inside her at once, without waiting for them day by day."
He therefore killed the goose. But on looking inside the body, to his great grief and disappointment, he found, instead of the wonderful treasure that he fancied would be there—nothing at all. So, through greediness and discontent he lost both his goose and her golden eggs forever. [more info]

The Man and his Goose

096. THE MAN AND HIS GOOSE. A certain man had a goose, which laid him a golden egg every day; but not contented with this, which rather increased than abated his avarice, he was resolved to kill the goose, and cut up her belly, so that he might come at the inexhaustible treasure which he fancied she had within her. He did so, and to his great sorrow and disappointment found nothing. [more info]

The Hen with the Golden Eggs

05.13: THE HEN WITH THE GOLDEN EGGS.
How avarice loseth all,
By striving all to gain,
I need no witness call
But him whose thrifty hen,
As by the fable we are told,
Laid every day an egg of gold.
'She hath a treasure in her body,'
Bethinks the avaricious noddy.
He kills and opens—vexed to find
All things like hens of common kind.
Thus spoil'd the source of all his riches,
To misers he a lesson teaches.
In these last changes of the moon,
How often doth one see
Men made as poor as he
By force of getting rich too soon!
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The Hen and the Golden Eggs

170. THE HEN AND THE GOLDEN EGGS. 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 it. 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 day by day assured. [more info]

The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg

46. THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGG.
A Farmer once a Goose possessed
That laid each morning in her nest
A Golden Egg, to him, indeed,
A fortune. Yet such was his greed
He grew in time suspicious lest
One Egg per day were not the best
The Goose could do. "I'm satisfied,"
Said he, "she has in her inside,
A mint of Gold." And so the dunce,
Thinking to get it all at once,
Killed her and found to his chagrin
Just flesh and feathers, bones and skin,
And other things no earthly use
To anyone except a Goose. [more info]

The Goose with the Golden Eggs

57. THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLDEN EGGS. One day a countryman going to the nest of his Goose found there an egg all yellow and glittering. When he took it up it was as heavy as lead and he was going to throw it away, because he thought a trick had been played upon him. But he took it home on second thoughts, and soon found to his delight that it was an egg of pure gold. Every morning the same thing occurred, and he soon became rich by selling his eggs. As he grew rich he grew greedy; and thinking to get at once all the gold the Goose could give, he killed it and opened it only to find nothing.
Greed oft o'er reaches itself. [more info]

The Goose that Laid Golden Eggs

01. THE GOOSE THAT LAID GOLDEN EGGS. There was a man who had a Goose that always laid golden eggs, one every day in the year.
Now, he thought there must be gold inside of her. So he wrung her neck and laid her open. He found that she was exactly like all other geese. He thought to find riches, and lost the little he had.
This fable teaches that one should be content with what one has, and not be greedy. [more info]

The Man and his Goose

096. THE MAN AND HIS GOOSE. You will find the fable in English on this page; scroll down to see if there are multiple English versions. [more info]

The Golden Eggs

21. THE GOLDEN EGGS.
A golden egg, one every day,
That simpleton's Goose used to lay;
So he killed the poor thing,
Swifter fortune to bring,
And dined off his fortune that day.
GREED OVEREACHES ITSELF
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The Goose and the Golden Egg

080. THE GOOSE AND THE GOLDEN EGG. There was once a Countryman who possessed the most wonderful Goose you can imagine, for every day when he visited the nest, the Goose had laid a beautiful, glittering, golden egg.
The Countryman took the eggs to market and soon began to get rich. But it was not long before he grew impatient with the Goose because she gave him only a single golden egg a day. He was not getting rich fast enough.
Then one day, after he had finished counting his money, the idea came to him that he could get all the golden eggs at once by killing the Goose and cutting it open. But when the deed was done, not a single golden egg did he find, and his precious Goose was dead.
Those who have plenty want more and so lose all they have. [more info]