Курочка Ряба

Жили-были дед да баба. И была у них курочка Ряба. Снеслакурочка яичко. Яичко не простое - золотое. Дед бил-бил, неразбил. Баба била-била, не разбила. А мышка бежала,хвостиком махнула, яичко упало и разбилось.

Дед и баба плачут, а курочка кудахчет: "Не плачь дед, неплачь баба. Я снесу вам яичко другое, не золотое, а простое".

Once upon a time, Pops and Granny had a spotted hen.  The hen laid an egg.  But this egg is unusual...it's...GOLDEN!  Pops hit it and hit it, but he couldn't split it.  Granny whacked it and whacked it, but couldn't crack it.  Then a mouse ran out, waving his tail; the egg fell and shattered.

Pops and Granny cry, so the hen clucks: "Don't cry Pops; don't cry Granny.  I'll lay you another egg, not golden, but a normal one."

                                               (Russian Folk Tale, trans. Michael Wasiura)

Slavic children are much deeper than I am, which is why we're holding our first reader contest.  The best explicator of this fable not only receives a free lifetime subscription to Desultory Eclecticism, he or she also gets his or her moral published in a future post.  Have at it.