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A1 Reading Plan · Week 2 · Day 9 of 30

The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs

From Aesop's Fables·~200 words·~2 min read

A farmer kills the magic goose to get all the gold at once. Useful lesson for impatient people.

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A Man and his Wife had the good fortune to possess a Goose which laid a Golden Egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough, and, imagining the bird must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it in order to secure the whole store of precious metal at once. But when they cut it open they found it was just like any other goose. Thus, they neither got rich all at once, as they had hoped, nor enjoyed any longer the daily addition to their wealth.

Much wants more and loses all.

Word game: ten new words, one minute→
Read the next storyThe Wolf in Sheep's Clothing →~2 min read
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5 short questions. Taking it is the best way to make the story and its new words actually stick. Scroll up to re-read any time.

Question 1 of 5vocabulary
What does 'possess' mean in the story?
Question 2 of 5vocabulary
What does 'precious' mean in 'precious metal'?
Question 3 of 5vocabulary
What does 'wealth' mean in the story?
Question 4 of 5comprehension
Why did the Man and his Wife kill the Goose?
Question 5 of 5comprehension
What did they find when they cut the Goose open?
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Source: V. S. Vernon Jones translation, public domain. The original tale, not a simplified or adapted version.
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