The Hen with the Golden Eggs

"The Hen with the Golden Eggs" by Jean de La Fontaine is a moral tale about a farmer who owns a hen that lays golden eggs. Instead of patiently waiting for the hen to lay her eggs each day, the farmer, driven by greed, decides to kill the hen and get all the gold at once. However, when he opens the hen, he finds that it's just like any other hen on the inside. The story is a strong reminder of the aphorism, "Greed often overreaches itself." It drives home the point that greed leads to nothing but downfall.

• Fable

								
My little story will explain
An olden maxim, which expresses
How Avarice, in search of gain,
May lose the hoard that it possesses.
The fable tells us that a Hen
Laid golden eggs, each egg a treasure;
Its owner--stupidest of men--
Was miserly beyond all measure.
He thought a mine of wealth to find
Within the Hen, and so he slew it:
He found a bird of common kind--
And lost a pretty fortune through it.

For money-worms, who now and then
Grow poor through trying to be wealthy,
I tell my fable of the Hen;
My tale is good, my moral healthy.


								Rate this book:0.0 / 0 votes