About the Hen That Laid Golden Eggs

Once upon a time, there lived an old man and an old woman, and they had a speckled hen. For three years, they fed the hen, day after day, waiting for her to lay an egg.

Exactly three years later, the hen laid an egg for them, and it wasn’t an ordinary egg—it was a golden one. The old man and the old woman were overjoyed, but they didn’t know what to do with the egg. They couldn’t believe their eyes that the hen had laid a golden egg.

They tried to break it, but it was so hard—it wouldn’t crack. The old man hit it and hit it, but it didn’t break. The old woman hit it and hit it, but it didn’t break either. They put the egg on a shelf; a mouse ran by, brushed it with its tail, and the egg fell onto the table—and broke. The old man cried, the old woman cried, and the hen clucked:

“Don’t cry, old man, don’t cry, old woman. I’ll lay you another egg, not an ordinary one, but a golden one. Just wait three more years.”

The old man and the old woman gathered the golden shell pieces and sold them to some Jews. They didn’t get much money. They wanted to build a new house, but they didn’t have enough. They had to wait another three years to save up for the house. They waited a week, waited a second week, and waited a third week. It felt like an eternity to them, and they grew tired of waiting.

So the old man said to the old woman:

“You know what, old woman? Instead of waiting a whole three years, let’s just slaughter the hen and take the golden egg out of her. There’s probably more than one in there, maybe three or even four. Then we’ll live well—we’ll have a new house, buy some land, and won’t have to bow to anyone.”

“Oh, you’re right, old man, let’s do it!”

They slaughtered the hen, but there wasn’t a single egg inside. The old man and the old woman started crying again.

A mouse poked its head out of its hole and said:

“Don’t cry, old man, don’t cry, old woman. Bury your hen in the garden, at the crossroads, wait three years, and then dig up a treasure there. And mark my words, so you’ll remember until the day you die: not everything you wish for comes right away.”

The old woman buried the hen near the garden at the crossroads, right by some bushes, and stuck a stick in the ground as a marker. They waited a year, waited a second year—but they ran out of patience and wanted to dig up the treasure sooner. The third year had already begun, but they were still waiting. Then the old woman said to the old man:

“Let’s take a look, old man.”

“Don’t rush, old woman, let’s wait a little longer. We’ve waited this long, now there’s not much left to wait.”

“No, old man, we won’t touch anything. We’ll just see if our treasure is starting to show.”

“Be careful, old woman, don’t ruin everything.”

“Don’t worry, old man, nothing bad will happen.”

They went to the garden with a shovel. They dug and dug and dug up a whole pile of golden beetles. The beetles buzzed and scattered in all directions.

And so, the old man and the old woman stayed living in their old house—they never got to build a new one.

The mouse poked its head out of its hole and said:

“You’re old, but you’re foolish. Why didn’t you wait until the three years were up? You would’ve had a big pile of gold coins, but now they’ve all flown away.”

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About the Hen That Laid Golden Eggs

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