The Golden Mongoose's Choice
Jataka Tales · 1 min read
A poor man discovered a rare golden mongoose who could, once each day, produce a single gold coin from his mouth when gently coaxed, and adopted him with genuine affection, grateful for the modest but steady fortune it brought his struggling family.
As the family prospered, the man's greed grew alongside it. No longer satisfied with one coin daily, he began forcing the mongoose repeatedly, squeezing and shaking him roughly in hopes of extracting more coins at once, ignoring the animal's visible distress each time.
The mongoose, patient at first, endured the rough treatment for weeks, but as the man's demands grew crueler and more frequent, he understood that his own well-being meant nothing anymore to a man consumed entirely by greed. One night, while the man slept, the mongoose quietly left, choosing his own safety and dignity over a wealth that had cost him only pain to provide. The man, waking to find his source of fortune gone, was left with only the coins already earned — a fair price, he eventually admitted to himself, for the way he had treated the one who gave them.
Moral of the story
Squeezing someone harder for more, without regard for their wellbeing, eventually loses you their willingness to give at all.