The Goddess and the Hen
Once upon a time, in a cheerful valley where golden fields stretched far, lived Venus, the goddess of beauty. The pretty henhouse at the edge of this enchanting valley was one of the goddess's favourite peaceful places. Inside the henhouse there was a plump hen that laid a bright, shining egg every morning at dawn. This hardworking hen made the goddess smile every day with her plentiful eggs. Juno, the queen of the heavens, also visited her friend from time to time and watched this lovely hen with interest. One day Venus stopped in front of the henhouse and watched the golden hen lay her egg with admiration. But a greedy curiosity that suddenly rose in her heart began to cloud her mind.
She thought to herself, “If this animal lays one egg a day, it will lay twice as many if it eats more.” Juno, who was standing beside her, gently warned her friend and said that this thought could be dangerous. “Every living thing has its measure, and the balance of nature must not be broken,” said Juno. But Venus, defeated by her greed, paid no attention at all to her friend's wise warning. She at once began to pour the tastiest corn and wheat in front of the hen, handful after handful. The lovely hen gobbled up all this plentiful food set before her with a great appetite. As the days passed, the hen grew extremely fat and could now move only with difficulty.
Before long, the hen, heavy with her own weight, stopped clucking cheerfully and walking altogether. Goddess Venus opened the door of the henhouse, dreaming of the eggs she would take two by two into her basket. But the hen, which had become clumsy, could no longer lay even a single egg. Venus understood her great mistake and felt a deep regret at this result caused by her greed. The goddess, who lost what she had while wanting more, suffered the punishment of her own greed. The greed to have more makes us lose completely even the abundance we already hold. A little greed brings a great loss.