Eggs of Gold Versus No Longer Controlled

What would possess a farmer to brutally slaughter his own pet goose? Up until the goose began laying eggs of solid gold, the creature lived a safe life as a barnyard novelty--at least she would have been safe until the Christmas holidays.

 

"Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat
Please put a penny in the old man's hat

If you haven't got a penny, a ha' penny will do,
If you haven't got a ha' penny, then God bless you."  

Was is mere gluttony, greed, or impatience, or a combination of vices on the part of the farmer when he hacked open his more than generous goose in an attempt to get all the eggs at once? Perhaps the real lesson behind the bloody rampage is more complicated.

 

Gluttony is often thought of in terms of excess consumption. Greediness is frequently defined as having the desire to possess something exclusively, while excluding everyone else.

 

'The Greedy want to possess.

The Gluttonous go to excess.'

 

The axe wielding farmer destroys his generous goose because he wants all of his golden eggs in one basket, He stops trusting the goose because it has too much power over him!. He loses his personal autonomy when he realizes he's completely dependent upon a barnyard goose for his livelihood!

 

He begins to go mad--not necessarily with greed. He goes mad simply by no longer being in control. He is now a slave to his goose--a creature who was once nothing more than a reliable food source. Now the Goose is Goddess!

 

When he chops it apart, all he finds is meat. The Goddess existed only in the farmer's perception. Now the farmer is free to return to his true calling--farming.

 

I imagine the story didn't end there. I believe that  the farmer brought the goose into the kitchen and told his wife to bake it up in the roast pan, using all the spices she had been saving for the holidays.

 

Instead of eating crow for dinner, the entire household feasted on the Christmas goose in July.

 

'Eat, drink, and be merry . . .

the old gray goose is dead!'

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