The Legend of the First Goose

Geese might look like ducks, but you know what? Geese don't have long necks before unlike now. Before, they really look like ducks. No one would notice any difference at all because they have shorter necks too. But that was a long time ago.

If you love animal folklore, here's a legend that has the answer why geese have long necks.

There was once a newlywed geese, and the couple had decided to build their nest close to the riverbank so that they can start teaching their babies earlier how to swim once the eggs hatched.

The couple were so happy with their place. For them it was perfect. It was in a perfect location hidden from the sight of anyone or anybody that would want their eggs for a meal. And to add to it, they have a friendly neighborhood. In fact, the husband goose already found some friends -- another male goose, a talkative frog, and a duck. Every night, the pals enjoy an evening of chit chatting about anything and everything that goes around in the neighborhood until it was either pretty late or they all run out of topic to talk about.

One day, during their meet up, the husband goose proudly announced to his friends that his wife had at last laid some eggs.

"Anytime soon I would be a proud father goose!" he said to his friends.

The other friends congratulated him. And since the goose would be a busy father soon, they knew they won't have so much time to spend together.

"We won't be having the same amount of time going out at night now," said his friends.

"Why is that?" asked the goose.

"Of course you have to help around keeping an eye with the eggs until they hatch."

The male goose hadn't thought of this before. And he can't get the thought out of his mind even on his way home.

One day, he spotted his wife feeling tired and sleepy. She's been so busy keeping her eggs warm and safe all day. He feels pity for his wife and so, he told her to take a rest, she can now sleep and he would take the turn on keeping the eggs warm. This made the wife very happy, she really needs some rest and her legs are aching and numb from sitting on the nest.

And so the male goose sat on the nest. He was happy the first few hours, keeping the eggs evenly warm, but then he heard some familiar voices!

What he heard? Those are his friends, happily talking and giggling. The male goose felt envious all of a sudden.

"I should have been with them right now," he thought to himself.

He wants to mingle with them or just be able to hear what they are talking about. He almost got up on the nest but then he remembered the eggs. And so he just stretched his neck trying to see where his friends are. But because the talahib grasses are tall, he's unable to see where the voices are coming from.

The male goose didn't give up. He keeps on stretching his neck until he saw his friends heads. But they were all done chit chatting for the night and they were heading home. And so he lowered his head. Nothing happened. He tried and tried lowering his head, but his neck won't come back to its size.

When the female goose came back the following morning to take her turn on keeping the eggs warm, she was surprised to see her husband's neck got longer.

"What happened?" asked the wife.

The male goose explained why. That his neck got long from all the stretching he did trying to spot where his friends were that night. And now, he can't get it back.

Since then, the goose neck stayed the same. And all his descendants too.