A STRANGE HEN

“Haste makes waste” is an oft-quoted proverb. It means that no doubt, life is the name of action not contemplation but any action should be taken after great care and contemplation. A man must analyze the positive and negative results of his action. If he does so, he can avoid the negative results of his action unlike the action taken in haste.  Here is the story of a hen to prove the truth of this dictum. 

Once, a man lived in a village. Luckily, he had a hen that laid a golden egg daily. He took the egg, went to the bazaar and sold it at a very high price. Within a very short span, he became one of the richest persons of his area. He began to live with great pomp and show. The people were greatly impressed by his riches. He was respected everywhere. As, he was a greedy person and his greed had made him impatient, he wanted to become a millionaire over the night. He did not wait for the eggs to come out one by one. He wanted to get all the eggs at once. So, he decided to kill his hen.

When he was ready to kill his hen, his friend came to meet him. He advised him thus, “Do not make the mistake of killing your hen. If you kill it, you will lose it forever and ever and never get such eggs in future. You will be sorry for killing it. Be patient and contented with what is going on.” But, he paid no heed to his advice. He took his knife and killed the hen. He tore open its stomach to get all the eggs at once. But, he was stunned to find only one egg. He could get no eggs in the future. He began to beat his breast in woe and wailing. He was repenting over his haste in killing the hen but it was useless to cry over the spilt milk. He was quite helpless and miserable at that time. The story teaches us that we should take every step with great care and cool-mindedly because sometimes actions done in haste lead us to loss and suffering.