This is also the title of one of a series of short
fables by
G.E.Lessing.
I have entered it in the original
German as
Die Ziegen. An
(approximate!) English translation is below.
By G.E.Lessing
The goats asked Zeus to given them horns; for in
the beginning the goats had no horns.
"Consider well what you request," said Zeus. "There
is, with the present of the horns, another one inseparably connected, which
might not be so agreeable to you."
Still the goats persisted in their request, and Zeus
spoke: "Then have horns!"
And the goats got horns - and beards! In the
beginning, the goats also had no beards. Oh, how the ugly beards afflicted
them! Far more the proud horns pleased them!