The Hen Who Laid Golden Eggs Traditional Cache
The Hen Who Laid Golden Eggs
-
Difficulty:
-
-
Terrain:
-
Size: 
(not chosen)
Related Web Page
Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions
in our disclaimer.
With my caching partners, we tried to make the cache “containers” fun to find for the whole family. All of them are a few steps only from the trail so that they are easy for little ones to get to. You’ll be looking for a character or object from the fable featured in the cache description, so read the title carefully and have fun! Also, bring a pencil or a pen. Enjoy!
CONGRATS to the LITTLE BUMS (of Burder Bums) on FTF!
As a kid, my favorite stories were some of Jean de La Fontaine’s fables. This series presents some of his better-known stories, and some of the ones that fascinated me the most as a child.
La Fontaine was one of the most read French poets of the 17th century. The fables presented here were first published in 1668, and, for most, adapted from classical fabulists such as Aesop.
The moral to the story…
Even if the fables were not meant to be children’s stories when La Fontaine wrote them, they were seen as a great way to teach kids important lessons: to not be greedy or vain, to work hard, to not underestimate the importance of people or things, to think of the consequences of their actions, etc.
For me, they were just beautifully told.
I hope these caches make you discover – or rediscover – great stories to share with little ones!
The Hen Who Laid Golden Eggs
(Jean de La Fontaine, book 5, fable 13 - translation by James Michie*)
When greed attempts to win all,
Greed looses all.
In support I only need said the old story we’ve all heard
Of the man who owned a hen that used to lay a gold egg every day.
Conviced her gizzard was a treasure vault,
He killed and opened up the bird
Only to find an average specimen of egg producing hen.
Thus he destroyed through his own fault the great bonanza he’d enjoyed.
For grabbers here’s a pretty warning:
In recent years, it’s been a common sight
To see men ruined overnight
Who tried to make fortune before morning.
* Jean de La Fontaine. Selected Fables (translation by James Michie). Harmondsworth : Penguin. 1982.
La poule aux oeufs d’or
(Jean de La Fontaine, livre 5, fable 13)
L'avarice perd tout en voulant tout gagner.
Je ne veux, pour le témoigner,
Que celui dont la Poule, à ce que dit la Fable,
Pondait tous les jours un oeuf d'or.
Il crut que dans son corps elle avait un trésor.
Il la tua, l'ouvrit, et la trouva semblable
A celles dont les oeufs ne lui rapportaient rien,
S'étant lui-même ôté le plus beau de son bien.
Belle leçon pour les gens chiches :
Pendant ces derniers temps, combien en a-t-on vus
Qui du soir au matin sont pauvres devenus
Pour vouloir trop tôt être riches ?
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zef. Ura vf abjurer gb or frra, ohg fur yrsg tbyqra rttf oruvaq. Gurl ner fnsr va n ovt gerr gung ybbxf n ovg yvxr n arfg.