Once, there was a cloth merchant who lived in a beautiful Indian village with his wife and two young children. They were well-off and lived a very comfortable life, for they owned a remarkable hen that laid an egg every single day. However, it wasn’t just an ordinary egg—it was a precious golden one. Despite this blessing, the man was not satisfied with receiving only one egg a day; he grew greedy for more.
He thought to himself, “Why should I wait every day for the hen to lay just one egg? Surely, there must be many eggs inside her. If I can get them all at once, I will sell them and become wealthy in the blink of an eye.” Driven by this thought, the merchant decided to slaughter the hen to claim all the eggs at once. He waited until the following morning, right after the hen had laid her golden egg.
He seized the hen and, with a sharp knife, cut her neck. As the hen lay lifeless, the merchant rushed to cut her open, expecting to find a treasure trove of golden eggs. To his absolute horror, there was not a single egg to be found. All he saw was blood. The merchant was struck with shock and profound grief, realizing he had destroyed the very source of his wealth.
His life had been going smoothly with that one egg a day, but through his own actions, he had made his life miserable. As a consequence of his extreme greed, his money began to run out, and he grew poorer and more wretched day by day. He eventually realized how foolish and grasping he had been; he had failed to thank God for the gift he had been given, choosing instead to let greed consume him and end a life for the sake of false hopes.
The Moral of the Story: One should be content with the sustenance they receive, lest they lose what they already have or fall into misery by longing for what they do not possess. Almighty God distributes blessings among His servants in various ways—some find their provision in wealth, some in health, and others in their children. Everyone is equal in their own way, but what truly matters is being grateful and satisfied with those blessings so they do not slip away.
Translated from: The Golden Egg