A kind humble widow and her young daughter lived in a small village long ago. They struggled to meet their basic needs, but the mother stayed happy with their modest life. She always taught her daughter to value kindness and patience.
One day, the widow looked for firewood by a river. She found a hurt swan with bright gold feathers. She felt bad for the bird so she took it home. She cleaned its wounds and took good care of it until it got better.
As time went by, the swan grew stronger. One morning, the swan surprised the widow by talking. It said, "You helped me when I was weak. To show my thanks, I'll give you one of my gold feathers every few days. You can sell them at the market to live well."
As promised, the swan came back often dropping one golden feather each visit. The widow felt thankful for this unexpected gift. She traded the feathers for money and spent it getting food and basic needs.
Although her circumstances had gotten better, she stayed humble and satisfied valuing the swan's present.
Yet, her daughter felt discontent. She viewed the golden feathers as a path to unlimited riches. One day, she said, "Why should we wait to get one feather at a time? If we take all the feathers now, we'll become wealthy overnight!"
The mother warned her, "My child, the swan gives because it's kind. We should feel thankful and accept what we get patiently." But the daughter wouldn't listen.
Consumed by avarice, the daughter seized the swan on its next visit and yanked out all its feathers. To her shock, the golden feathers changed into regular ones plain and useless. The swan wounded by their betrayal, cried out, "I was glad to share my fortune with you, but greed has ruined what could have lasted your whole life."
The swan exerted itself beating its wings as it took flight vanishing for good. The mother and her child found themselves empty-handed filled with remorse. They grasped too late that their lack of patience and avarice had robbed them of a gift that might have provided for them.
Moral: Greed ruins what we have.
This tale offers a key insight about being happy with what you have waiting, and feeling thankful. When we want more, we tend to forget the good things we already own. The widow's patience and humble nature allowed her to live well, but her daughter's greed caused her to lose everything.
In our own lives, we often run after money, success, or stuff without noticing the steady good things we get. Like the golden swan's feathers small kind acts hard work, and patience bring rewards over time. But when we let greed take charge, we might lose what counts—trust, relationships, and a stable life.
This story shows us that real wealth isn't about getting rich quick. It's about having the smarts to value what we have and use it well.