The Golden Egg Once upon a time,
In a small village,
There lived a kind farmer named Mateo.
He was not rich,
But he was happy.
Every morning,
He took care of his chickens,
Cows and vegetable garden.
He worked hard and always helped his neighbors when they needed it.
One day,
While collecting eggs,
Mateo saw something strange.
Among the white and brown eggs,
There was one that shone like the sun.
It was a golden egg.
Mateo's eyes grew wide.
This must be worth a lot of money,
He thought.
He carefully picked up the egg and ran to his wife,
Rosa.
This is amazing,
Rosa said.
Where did it come from?
They looked at the chickens,
But they all seemed the same.
Then,
Mateo noticed one small hen sitting quietly in the corner.
She looked at him with wise,
Gentle eyes.
Could she be the one?
Mateo wondered.
The next morning,
Mateo checked the hen house again.
Another golden egg.
On the next day,
The same thing happened.
Every morning,
The little hen laid one golden egg.
At first,
Mateo and Rosa were careful.
Mateo sold just one egg at the market and used the money to buy better food and warm clothes.
They stayed kind and humble,
Helping their neighbors just as before.
But soon,
Mateo started to change.
If one egg can buy nice things,
Imagine if we had ten or twenty,
He said excitedly.
He began selling more eggs and buying fancy furniture and expensive clothes.
He stopped working in his fields and didn't visit his neighbors anymore.
One evening,
As Mateo counted his gold,
A thought came to him.
What if the hen stops laying eggs?
What if someone steals her?
Worry filled his mind.
There must be more gold inside her.
If I take all at once,
I'll be the richest man in the village.
Ignoring Rosa's warning,
Mateo picked up the hen and placed her on the table.
I'm so sorry,
Little one,
He whispered.
But when he opened the hen,
There was nothing inside.
No gold,
No treasure,
Just an ordinary hen.
Mateo couldn't believe it.
What have I done?
Without the hen,
There were no more golden eggs.
The money he had made quickly disappeared and he lost everything he had bought.
But the worst part was that he had also lost his happiness.
One day,
As he sat outside his empty house,
A neighbor walked by with a basket of vegetables.
I thought you might need this,
The neighbor said kindly.
Mateo's eyes filled with tears.
Thank you,
He said.
I was so blinded by gold that I forgot what really matters.
From that day on,
Mateo returned to his simple life,
Working hard and helping others.
He never saw another golden egg,
But he found something even better.
The joy of kindness,
Friendship,
And a grateful heart.
Greed can make us lose what is truly important.
Happiness comes from kindness and being grateful for what we have.
