The Two Goats
Two goats. One narrow log. Neither will move.
B2 · C1 · phrase: to give way
The story
High up in the mountains, a narrow stream ran through a deep valley. There was only one way across: a single log, lying from one side to the other. It was just wide enough for one.
One morning, a goat came down the path on the left and stepped onto the log to cross. At exactly the same moment, a second goat came down the path on the right, and stepped onto the log from the other side.
They met in the middle.
Neither could pass. The log was too narrow to turn around on, and far too narrow for two. Below them, the water rushed over the rocks.
The first goat lowered her head. "Get back," she said. "I was here first. Let me cross."
"No," said the second goat. "You get back. I am not returning the way I came."
Neither would move. Neither would wait. Neither would step back to let the other go first.
Instead, they both lowered their horns. They pushed. They shoved. Each one determined to win, to force the other backwards, to be the one who would not give way.
And so, locked together in the middle of that narrow log, high above the rushing water, both goats lost their footing — and fell.
“And the lesson is this: when neither side is willing to give way, often both sides lose everything.”
Words worth keeping
to give way — to stop resisting; to step back and let someone or something else go first. "Neither driver would give way."
stubborn — refusing to change your mind, even when it would be wiser to. "He was too stubborn to apologise."
to meet in the middle — to compromise; for each side to give up a little so both can move forward. (In the story they meet in the middle literally — and it's a disaster. In real life, "meeting in the middle" is the solution they refused.)
Test yourself
Five quick questions on The Goose and the Golden Eggs.
Before you go
This one's really about compromise — two people, both right, both refusing to give an inch, and both end up worse off.
When did you last see a disagreement where nobody would give way — and everyone lost?
Tell me in the comments on YouTube