Meaning & Analysis
If a person eats a goose belonging to the king, they will inevitably suffocate on its feathers, implying a direct and painful consequence for the action.
Insights
Illicit Gains and Inevitable Punishment
This proverb is a stark warning that illicit gains, especially those taken from a powerful entity, will bring about severe and unavoidable punishment. The 'goose' represents any ill-gotten advantage, while the 'feathers' symbolize the inescapable, painful consequences that follow.
The Folly of Challenging Power
Stealing from the king represents a transgression against the highest authority. The proverb warns that challenging or defrauding the powerful is a foolish act that results in self-destruction, as the means of the crime become the instrument of ruin.
Inescapable Evidence of Guilt
The feathers are an indelible part of the goose that cannot be digested or hidden. They symbolize the evidence of a crime or the stain of guilt that will eventually reveal itself, no matter how much time passes, leading to the wrongdoer's downfall.
Sovereign Authority and Justice
The proverb powerfully reinforces the concept of royal authority and property rights in a hierarchical society. The 'king's goose' is not merely personal property but a symbol of the state's resources. Crimes against the crown were considered exceptionally severe, and the proverb serves as a stark deterrent, implying that justice for such an offense is inescapable and divinely or karmically enforced.
Psychology of Guilt
The act of 'choking' on the feathers suggests an internal, inescapable consequence. The pleasure of the illicit gain (eating the goose) is temporary, but the painful repercussion is lasting and comes from within. This reflects a psychological truth that guilt and the consequences of a crime become an inseparable, torturous part of the perpetrator.
Generational Curses and Retribution
The variations in the quotations—'void the feathers an hundred yeares after' or 'sticke in his throate seuen yeares after'—transform the punishment from a simple legal consequence into a long-term curse affecting the transgressor and their descendants. It speaks to a belief in a form of enduring, almost supernatural, retribution for offenses against the established power.
Rhetorical Devices
Extended Metaphor
The core of the proverb lies in its powerful central metaphor: the 'king's goose' symbolizes sacred or protected property, and 'choking on the feathers' represents the painful, intrinsic consequences of violating that trust.
Hyperbole
The image of choking and the quotations mentioning consequences lasting for 'seuen yeares' or 'an hundred yeares' are hyperbolic, used to emphasize the extreme and long-lasting severity of the punishment, making the warning more memorable and terrifying.
Visceral Imagery
The proverb employs visceral and disturbing imagery of eating and choking. This creates a strong, primal emotional response, ensuring the moral warning against theft from the powerful is both clear and unforgettable.
Transcription
Quotations
Thay that eats the kings geass wil wirrie on the feathers.
He that eats the Kings Goose doth void the feathers an hundred yeares after.
He that purloynes the Princes treasure payes in th’arrarages (by himselfe, or his heires) one time or another.
What familie, that hath had but a finger in these sacrileges, hath not beene ruinated by them? ... Remember the Prouerbe: He that eates the Kinges goose, shall haue the feathers sticke in his throate seuen yeares after.
He who eats the Kings Goose may shite out the feathers a hundred years after.
(King's Geese).
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.