There was a Brahmin who lived in Banaras. He was married and had three little daughters, Nanda, Nandavati and Sundarinanda. The Brahmin died leaving his widow and daughters in great poverty.
The Brahmin was a Bodhisatta, so he remembered his previous life when he was born again as a beautiful golden mallard. He was worried about his wife and daughters who were now living with relatives.
“I have golden feathers. They are of great value. If I give them one feather from time to time, they will be able to live in comfort,” he thought. He flew to the place where they were living and sat on the roof. After a while, they noticed the mallard and asked him who he was.
The mallard told them that he was their father and that he had come to help them. “I hate to see you all in such a miserable condition. I’ll give you a golden feather every time I come. Please sell it. Then you can live in comfort.” Saying that, he gave them a golden feather and flew off.
After that, he would come from time to time and give them another feather. The widow and her daughters sold the feather and soon they became prosperous. They did not need to live on the charity of their relatives any more.
The widow, however, looked at the golden mallard and she became greedy. “If we had all the feathers at once, we would be really rich,” she thought. She instructed her daughters, “Girls, this is only a bird. Suppose he stops coming, we will lose the source of all our wealth. I think when he comes next time, we should pull out all his golden feathers at once, so that he may not get a chance to change his mind.”
The next time the mallard came, the widow grabbed him. She and the girls pulled out all his feathers. The golden feathers of the mallard were magical. If he gave them on his own, they were golden. If someone took them forcibly, they were ordinary feathers.
The widow did not know this. But all she got was a lot of worthless feathers! Meanwhile, the poor plucked mallard could not fly without his feathers. So, he sat in a corner and waited till they grew again. Then he spread his wings and flew off, away from his ungrateful family. He never came back.
