In a small village near Varanasi, there lived a poor farmer named Hariya and his wife Savitri. They worked hard in their fields but earned very little money. Life was difficult.

One day, a wandering sage passed through their village. Hariya offered him food and water. The sage was pleased.

“You are kind people,” said the sage. “I want to give you a gift.” He gave them a beautiful white hen. “This is a special hen. Take good care of her.”

The next morning, Savitri went to check on the hen and gasped! The hen had laid a golden egg! A real, shiny, golden egg!

“Hariya! Come quickly!” she cried. “The hen has laid a golden egg!”

Hariya could not believe his eyes. They sold the golden egg at the market and got a lot of money. The next day, another golden egg! And the next day, another!

Day after day, the hen laid one golden egg. Hariya and Savitri became wealthy. They built a nice house, bought new clothes, and ate good food. They were very happy.

But slowly, Hariya became greedy. “One egg per day is not enough,” he thought. “If I cut open the hen, I can get ALL the golden eggs at once! Then I will be the richest man in the village!”

Savitri tried to stop him. “Don’t do it! The hen gives us one egg every day. We should be grateful!”

But Hariya did not listen. He was too greedy.

He cut open the hen. But inside… there were no golden eggs. Nothing. Just a normal hen inside.

The magical hen was dead. There would be no more golden eggs. Ever.

Hariya sat down and wept. “What have I done? My greed has destroyed everything!”

From that day, Hariya learned: be grateful for what you have. Greed only brings sorrow.