Golden Goose. Source: Wikimedia
The Golden Feathers, from Twenty Jataka Tales by Noor Inayat
Once there was a poor family who lived in a small hut in the forest. The father of the family decided one day that he was tired of scraping by and watching his wife and children struggle, so he decides he will go out and seek wealth to bring back to them so they didn't have to live such a hard life. The father tells this to his family and bids them farewell. When he had gotten far down a forest path and had been away from his family for some time, a fairy appeared to him. The fairy asked him what he was doing and why he was all alone in the forest. He told the fairy his quest to bring his family comfort and how he had to leave them to find a way to help. The fairy was moved by the man's devotion to providing for his family so he turned the man into a golden goose. The goose's feathers were made of gold and he shimmered brilliantly as he moved from place to place. The man, now a goose, immediately went back to his family. He decided to help his family he would return periodically to them to give them one of his feathers for them to go into town and sell. He gave them a feather and then left after he had explained his plan to them. This continued for some time where he would return, give them a feather, and then leave. One day the wife explained to the children that they must capture the goose and pluck all of his feathers in case he leaves one day and never returns. The kids were sad about it but had to agree to their mothers plan. So, when the goose came back the next time to give them a feather, the kids all jumped on him and held him down as the wife plucked all of his feathers. They then threw the goose in a barrel to save him until his feathers grew back. The feathers they had plucked had a problem however, because they all turned to white regular feathers when they had finished their terror on the goose. As it turns out, the fairy had put a charm on the goose that if his feathers were ever taken from him by force, that they should revert to normal and he would never grow golden feathers again. This shocked the wife and made her regret her rash decision. The goose grew back his feathers and in time returned to his past human form. The wife was shocked one day to find her husband sleeping in the barrel where the goose once was. It was then she finally understood what the goose was doing and why it had come to them and she became inconsolably sad.
Author's Note: I decided to change the end of this story to make the husband turn back to normal instead of staying a goose. I feel like it helps his wife in the story better realize the gravity of her mistake.
