In a peaceful Khmer village, a poor farmer worked hard every day in his small rice field. One morning, while plowing the land, he heard a soft cry. He looked up and saw a beautiful golden bird caught in his fishing net.

The bird pleaded,
“Please free me, kind farmer. I will repay your kindness.”

The farmer smiled and released her. The bird spread her glittering wings and flew away. The next morning, the farmer found a single golden grain of rice on his doorstep. He planted it, and soon it grew into a stalk of rice that glowed like sunlight.

Every harvest, the rice multiplied and never ran out. The farmer shared it with his neighbors, and soon the whole village was prosperous.

But one greedy man, hearing of the golden bird, set a trap. He caught her and demanded,
“Give me gold or I will never let you go!”

The bird shed a single tear and vanished into light, leaving the greedy man with nothing but ashes.

The kind farmer, however, kept the bird’s memory in his heart — and his fields always stayed green.

👉 Moral of the story: Kindness brings endless blessings, but greed destroys them.