A family suddenly becomes rich. How could anything go wrong?
Learning Objective: Students will read an adaptation of a fable by Aesop and identify its moral: that greed can lead to terrible decisions.
S1: From the darkness, the sun begins to peek over the horizon. A rooster crows.
Rooster: Cock-a-doodle-doo!
S2: The Boyd family wakes up in their small but cozy home. They all sleep on piles of straw.
Pa: Rise and shine, everyone.
S3: Ma lights a candle.
Ma: Betty, collect the eggs. Freddy, pick the rest of the corn.
Betty and Freddy (sleepily): Sure, Ma.
S1: Betty goes to the barn and greets each goose.
Betty: Hello, Gracie. Hi, Greta. Howdy, Gwen. Good morning, Gloria.
Gloria: Honk honk.
S2: Back in the house, Granny slices some bread.
Granny: This is the last of our bread.
Ma: Let’s hope we can trade for some more flour at the market today.
S3: Outside, Pa loads up the rickety cart with all of their corn and eggs.
S1: Then the family piles into the cart.
Pa: Giddyup!
S2: Their old horse takes one step, then another, struggling to pull the heavy load.
S3: After what seems like an eternity, they arrive at the market.
S1: Betty and Freddy shout to shoppers.
Betty: Get your farm-fresh eggs here!
Freddy: And tasty corn, picked this morning!
S2: A neighbor comes over with a jug of milk.
Joe: Can I trade my milk for your eggs?
Pa: Sure thing, Joe.
S3: Ma hands him some eggs.
Ma: Joe, I’m giving you a few extra since you’ve got that new baby.
Joe: I sure do appreciate that. You’re mighty generous people.
Scene 2
One week later
S1: The sun starts to rise. The rooster crows.
Rooster: Cock-a-doodle-doo!
S2: Once again, the Boyds get ready for market day.
S3: Betty collects the eggs.
Betty: Hello, Gracie. Hi, Greta. Howdy, Gwen. Good morning, Gloria.
Gloria: Honk! Honk! Honk! Honk!
S1: Betty reaches into Gloria’s nook and pulls out a heavy yellow egg.
Betty (confused): How strange.
S2: She brings it outside.
Betty (to Freddy): Look at this.
S3: Freddy looks at the egg in the dim dawn light. He shakes it, then knocks it against his forehead.
Freddy: Seems heavy. Maybe it’s bad.
Betty: We can’t sell it if it’s rotten.
S1: Freddy tosses it into the basket anyway.
S2: At the market, as Ma is setting out the eggs, she finds the yellow one.
Ma: What’s this?
Betty: Just some dud egg that Gloria laid.
S3: The egg gleams in the bright morning light.
S1: Granny comes over and picks it up, inspecting it from every angle. She taps it against her teeth.
Granny: This is no dud. It’s made of gold.
Pa: What?
Granny: Solid gold.
Ma: No!
Betty: Really?
Freddy: Gold!
S2: Some villagers overhear and gather around.
Crowd: Gold! It’s gold! A golden egg!
Dave Clegg
Scene 3
That afternoon
S3: The Boyds sit at their tiny wooden table staring at the golden egg.
Ma: I’ve never seen real gold before!
Pa: Neither have I.
Betty: What should we do with it?
Freddy: What is it worth?
Granny: Settle down, everybody. This is a lucky day. We’ll tuck this egg away and save it until we need it.
Freddy: But Granny, imagine what we could buy with it. I need new shoes.
Betty: I want a new dress.
Ma: I’d love some new cooking pots.
S1: Granny looks at Pa.
Pa: Well, there’s sense in saving the egg for a rainy day.
S2: Granny smiles.
Pa: But I sure would like a better horse and cart to take to market.
Granny: Be sensible! We should only spend it if it’s absolutely necessary.
Freddy: I still can’t believe our goose laid a golden egg!
Betty: I’m going to check on Gloria.
S3: Betty goes to the barn, then comes running back in holding something.
Betty: Another golden egg!
S1: Ma, Pa, and Freddy gasp with delight.
Scene 4
A few weeks later
S2: The sun comes up. The rooster crows.
Rooster: Cock-a-doodle-doo!
S3: Nobody moves. The Boyds are sound asleep. The rooster crows again.
Rooster: I said, “COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!”
Freddy (shouting): Hey, rooster, be quiet! We’re sleeping in!
S1: Eventually, Ma gets up and lights a candle.
Ma: The builder will be here soon.
Betty: Is our new house going to be big?
Pa: Yes!
Freddy: With our own rooms and real beds?
Ma: Yes!
Granny: I don’t see why we need a new house. This one is just fine.
S2: Pa admires the pile of golden eggs on the table.
Pa: We can afford it, so why not?
Granny: It’s best not to get greedy. We don’t know how long this good fortune will last.
Betty (hugging Granny): Don’t worry, Granny. Gloria has been laying golden eggs every day. We will always have plenty of gold.
Granny: How can you be so sure?
Dave Clegg
Scene 5
The following week
S3: The Boyds’ house is being torn down.
S1: Pa hands a golden egg to the builder.
Builder: Next week I will need more gold to buy materials for your new house.
Pa: Of course.
S2: The tailor arrives with his finest silks.
Tailor: I’ve come to measure you for your new wardrobe.
Ma: How grand! Come. We are staying in the barn while our new house is being built.
S3: Outside the barn, Betty and Freddy are brushing the new horse.
S1: Inside, Granny is sewing up a hole in an old sweater. The tailor approaches Granny.
Granny: I don’t need any new clothes. I’m happy with what I have.
S2: The tailor measures everyone else. Ma gives him an egg.
Tailor: Thank you, madam. You may pay me more gold when the clothes are finished.
S3: A gardener arrives.
Gardener: We have ripped out that ugly cornfield and will start your new garden. Exquisite roses will circle a beautiful fountain. It will be a garden fit for a queen.
Ma: How wonderful! Here’s a golden egg.
Gardener: Thank you. I will collect more gold next week.
S1: Ma takes out a piece of paper.
Ma: That’s three eggs now and seven eggs later.
Pa: Don’t forget we need to pay the carpenter for the new furniture.
Betty: And the blacksmith for the new horseshoes.
Pa: And the shoemaker for our new boots.
S2: Their neighbor Joe approaches. He looks pale.
Pa: Hello, Joe! Everything all right?
Joe: I’ve been sick for weeks and unable to work. I was . . .
S3: Joe looks down at his feet.
Joe: . . . wondering if you could help me out so I can feed my family.
S1: The Boyds look at each other.
Ma: Sorry, Joe. We’ve got nothing to spare.
Scene 6
One week later
S2: The sun rises. The rooster crows.
Rooster: Cock-a-doodle—
Ma: Shush, rooster. We’re already up!
S3: The Boyds are gathered near Gloria’s nook.
Pa: We need 10 golden eggs today.
Betty: Hey, Gloria. Hurry up!
Gloria: Honk!
Pa: You’ve just given me an idea.
S1: They take Gloria to the village doctor.
Doctor: So this is the famous goose that lays the golden eggs. Is she ill?
Pa: No. We were just hoping she could lay her eggs faster.
Ma: We have so many people to pay.
Pa: New house, new horse, new clothes . . .
Doctor: And you need more gold to pay for it.
Ma: That’s right.
Doctor: Well, a goose lays eggs when she’s ready.
Pa: That’s it? That’s your advice?
S2: They bring Gloria back home.
Ma: That doctor was useless!
Pa: There must be a way to get more gold out of Gloria!
Granny: Remember how happy we were before the golden eggs?
S3: They all stare at Granny.
Scene 7
Later that day
S1: The Boyds gather around Gloria, who honks nervously.
Gloria: Honk honk.
Pa: Are we all agreed?
Betty: Yes, Pa.
Freddy: Count me in.
Ma: It’s the only way.
Granny: No! This is madness!
Gloria: Honk honk honk honk honk!
S2: Pa grabs an ax and takes Gloria back behind the barn.
S3: The others listen eagerly.
Gloria: Honk! Hooooooooonk! Hooooon—
S1: Everything goes silent.
Ma: Well, Pa?
Betty: What’s inside?
Freddy: Is it a gold mine?
S2: Pa brings back poor Gloria’s body.
S3: They look inside her and gasp.
Ma: There’s . . . there’s . . .
Pa: Nothing. Nothing at all.
Betty: And now there’s no more goose.
Freddy: And no way to get more gold.
S1: They look at their demolished house and ripped-up cornfield.
Granny: I tried to warn you. You wanted too much and ended up with nothing.
Pa: Yes, how foolish we were to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs.
This article was originally published in the September 2019 issue.
Can't-Miss Teaching Extras
Explore the Library of Congress’s complete collection of Aesop’s Fables with your class! Then challenge your students to write and illustrate their own fables.
As the Boyd family becomes rich, they quickly become selfish and greedy. This article will remind your students about the importance of helping others and offers suggestions for assisting those in need.
More About the Story
Skills
Moral of a story, vocabulary, fluency, descriptive details, compare and contrast, plot, character, inference, text features, how characters change, point of view, author’s craft, narrative writing
Complexity Factors
Levels of Meaning
Based on one of Aesop’s fables, the play illustrates what can happen when people become consumed by greed.
Structure
The play is chronological and has seven scenes.
Language
The play contains challenging academic vocabulary, such as demolished, exquisite, and rickety, as well as rhetorical questions.
Knowledge Demands
No special knowledge is required to understand this story.
1. Preparing to Read
Activate Prior Knowledge; Preview Vocabulary and Text Features (15 minutes)
2. Reading the Play
Close-Reading Questions (20 minutes)
Critical-Thinking Questions
3. Skill Building
Featured Skill: Moral of a Story
Differentiate and Customize
Gather students in a small group and read the play aloud to them one time to model fluent reading and expression. Then read the play again, assigning some or all of the parts to students.
Direct students to The Aesop for Children, a collection of fables at the Library of Congress website (www.read.gov/aesop). Have students work in small groups to select a fable and turn it into a very short play. Remind them to include the moral. Invite groups to read their plays aloud to the class.
Idioms can be especially challenging for ELLs. Work closely with your students to make sure they understand the two idioms identified by the Idiomizer in the margins of the play. Afterward, ask them to share idioms they know in English or another language.
