Junior 2nd Prize Winning Story - The Selfish Goat

“The Selfish Goat” by Riya Dutt, Global Indian International School, Singapore, is the Second Prize winning story in the junior category of the second biannual Short Story Contest 2018.

The Selfish Goat

Once upon a time there lived a farmer. He had a goat, which he had taken care of since it was a small kid. He loved the goat a lot and trusted it too. The farmer had three sons who loved and cared for him. They helped the farmer with his work. The goat was very selfish and didn’t like the farmer’s sons. It was very jealous of them and did not like farmer to talk to them or help them. Everyday the farmer would take the goat for grazing.

One day, the farmer became very ill and could not get up. He called his eldest son and asked him to take the goat for grazing. He knew that his father loved the goat dearly so he made sure the goat was fed nicely. The eldest son sat patiently and asked the goat to eat. The goat was happy and ate and ate and spent the whole day eating. There was even a river nearby so the goat could drink water. When it became evening, the goat wanted to go home. When they went home, the goat went the farmer and started crying. The farmer was worried and asked the goat, “What is wrong, my dear goat?” The goat answered, ”Your horrible son took me to a place where there were only rocks and hardly any grass. Oh! I am so hungry!” The son was shocked and said, ”No father, I took him to a nice place with green grass anda river. The farmer believed the goat and scolded the son angrily, “I trusted you so much to take care of my goat but you failed me. So get out of my house!” The poor son tried to talk to his father but he didn’t listen. So he sadly left the house. The goat was very happy to see the eldest son go out of the house.

Next day the farmer asked the second son to take the goat out for grazing. The second son felt very sorry for the goat and took it to a beautiful field full of sweet green grass and flowers. The goat was very happy with this place. It started eating. Finally, in the evening the goat couldn’t eat any more and they went home. The farmer asked the goat if it ate well. The goat started crying, “Your horrible son took me to a place where there was only sand. How can I eat sand?” The second son was shocked. He said, “No father, I took him to a field with grass and flowers. The goat is telling lies”. Again the farmer didn’t believe his son and angrily threw him out of the house. The second son left sadly and realised that goat had tricked him. The goat was very happy.

Next day the farmer asked the third son to take the goat for grazing. The third son took the goat to a beautiful meadow full of green grass. The goat again ate till it was full. Again the goat complained about the son and the farmer asked the son to leave the house. The goat was very happy to see all the three sons went out of the house. But the farmer was very sad.

Next day the farmer was ok and decided to take the goat for grazing. He took the goat to a fruit farm with a lot of green grass and fruits. He told the goat to eat properly since it had not eaten for many days. The goat was very happy. The farmer was so happy to see the goat eating so much. Finally they went back home. The farmer said,” My dear goat, today at least you are not hungry”. The goat totally forgot about the farmer and foolishly said, “What food? Today, I am so hungry since I got only mud!” The farmer was shocked and saw that the goat had lied and tricked him. He angrily threw the goat out the house. He felt very sad that he had trusted the goat and not his sons. The farmer went in search of his sons and brought them home. Now the farmer and three sons lived happily ever after.