The Hen That Laid Golden Eggs
A farmer decides one golden egg a day is not enough, and loses what he has.
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In a village there lived a poor farmer and his wife. They had a small henhouse, and in it a single hen. One morning the farmer went into the henhouse and could not believe his eyes: the hen had laid a gleaming golden egg!
The farmer took the egg to town, sold it and came home with a sack of flour, a tub of butter and new shoes. The next morning there was another golden egg, and the morning after that another... A golden egg every day. In a short time the farmer and his wife became the richest people in the village. They built a new house and bought fields.
But after a while the farmer grew impatient. "Only one egg a day," he said to his wife. "This hen must be full of gold inside. If we cut her open we could take all the gold at once and never have to wait!"
His wife objected: "Don't, our hen already gives us enough every day." But the farmer did not listen. Greed had filled his eyes. He killed the hen.
And what did he find inside? Nothing. The inside of the hen was just like the inside of any hen. No gold, no silver.
The farmer stood there, knife in hand. Now he had neither the hen nor her golden eggs. Even that one egg a day would never come again.
From that day on the farmer told this story to all the children in the village: "Know the worth of what you have. While reaching for more, you can lose what is already yours."
The tale ends here. Sleep well.
The Hen That Laid Golden Eggs is a children's tale from Aesop, suitable for ages 4-9 and about 2 minutes long. Read it free on Masal Merkezi, play a lullaby or nature sound in the background, tap any word to see its Turkish meaning and save it to your favorites. For similar tales browse the Aesop's Fables category.
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