The good shepherd shears, but does not flay his sheep. The good master only exacts such a portion of labour from his servants, as they may perform without injuring themselves. Tiberius Cæsar used this proverb, of which he is reputed to be the author, to restrain the rapacity of his courtiers, advising him to levy further imposts upon one of the provinces, which had been previously largely taxed. Alexander the Great, on a similar occasion, is said to have given the following: «Olitorem odi qui radicitus herbas excidat», he is a bad gardener, who, instead of cropping, tears the plants up by the roots. The woman who killed the hen, that brought her a golden egg every day, in the hope of becoming more speedily rich, falls under the censure of this adage.
Fuente: Erasmo, 2612.
