This is another nice story from the album of Jataka
Kathaye (Tales). Once upon a time, there was a swan / goose that had
striking golden feathers. This swan lived in a pond. There was a house
near this pond, where a poor woman lived with her two daughters. The
people were really poor and were leading a tough life. The swan found
that the poor mother was passing a hard time with her daughters.
The swan thought, “If I give them one after another my golden
feathers, the mother can sell them. She and her daughters can live in
comfort with the money raised from it”. After thinking this, the
swan flew away to the poor woman’s house. On seeing the swan inside
the house, the woman said,” Why have you come here? We have nothing
to offer you”.
The Swan replied, “I have not come to take anything, but I have
something to give you. I know your condition. I will give my golden
feathers one by one and you can sell them. With the money raised through
it, you people can easily live in comfort”. After saying this, the
swan shed one of her feathers and then flew away. This became a regular
feature and from time to time, the swan came back and every time left
another feather.
Like this, the mother and her daughters were happily leading their life
by selling the feathers of the golden swan. Each golden feather got them
enough money to keep them in comfort. But the mother became greedy to
get all the feathers as soon as possible. One day, she said to her
daughters, “Now, we will not trust this swan, possibly she may fly
away and never come back. If this would happen, we will be poor again.
We will take all of her feathers, when she will come the next time”.
The innocent daughters replied, “Mother, this will hurt the swan.
We will not cause any pain to her”. But the mother was determined
to catch hold the swan the very next time she comes. Next time, when the
swan came, the mother caught her and pulled out all of her feathers.
Now, the golden feathers of the swan changed into some strange feathers.
The mother was shocked to see such feathers.
The Golden Swan said, “Poor Mother, I wanted to help you, but you
wanted to kill me instead. As per my wish, I used to give you the golden
feather. Now, I think there is no need to help you. Now, my feathers are
nothing more than chicken feathers for you. I am going from this place
and will never come back”. The mother felt sorry and apologized for
the mistake committed by her. The Golden Swan said, “Never be
greedy” and flew away.
Moral: Excess greed brings nothing.
