Esau and the Magical Goose

There are many stories called parables, concerning real people. or fables, concerning fictional people, that have been used since humanity first learned the art of writing, to help guide us through the perils that await us as we go through life. These come from many sources, such as books of the Bible, or ancient writers, such as Aesop.

From the first source, specifically, Genesis, chapter 25, there is the story of Esau and Jacob, twins and the first born sons of Isaac and Rebekah. In those days, it was the eldest who was heir to the father’s estate, and in this instance, that ought to have been Esau.

Sadly, one day, Esau came home hungry, just as his brother had finished cooking up a pot of pottage. The aroma was more than Esau could bear, and so, for some of his brother’s cooking, Esau made a mess of things by selling his birthright to Jacob, who, as luck would have was, was holding onto his brother’s heel as the two left the womb, thus helping to fulfill the prophecy that the elder son, Esau, would one day serve the younger son, Jacob.

This story has come to mean selling something very valuable for a mere pittance. In Esau’s case, he knew what he was giving up, In other cases, the sellers may not have known what they were giving up, yet the outcome is still the same.

Take, for instance, those inhabitants of Appalachia who, in the era following the Civil War, were sweet talked into surrendering mineral rights to the land they lived on for less than nothing. This has resulted in literally billions of dollars worth of coal, natural gas, and timber being taken from this part of the world, while the Esau’s, the sellers, many of whom later worked in the mines, now live in poverty.

And what about those who bought the minerals, the modern day Jacobs? How have they thrived? Alas, they have behaved as the main characters in a fable by Aesop, called “The Goose That Laid Golden Eggs”.

In this story, a man and his wife have a unique fowl, one that laid eggs made of gold. One might suspect that, having an animal with this ability, these people would protect it and care for it. After all, it was providing them with a comfortable living.

But you would be wrong. No, these people were too impatient for such niceties. They had an idea that the goose was holding out on them. They decided that since its eggs were made of gold, the insides of the goose must be made of gold, as well, To get this gold more quickly, they decided to kill the goose, but upon cutting it open, surprise, nothing but goose meat, and, sadly, now worth no more than the price of one meal, with perhaps some leftovers.

In the coalfields of Appalachia, the owners of a magical goose, the mineral rights of the area, have now begun carving up the body of the goose that once laid the golden eggs. They call it mountaintop removal. Well, the goose is dead, so what else is there to do with it? Nothing, I suppose.
Oh, well! So much for morals from stories such as these.