THE DISCONTENTED CHICKENS

Something to Find Out.—Why the cock and the hens went back to the farmer.

Once there was a farm-yard where a cock lived with a big family of hens. The farmer was proud of his chickens, and gave them the best of care.

He built them a snug little house with rows of nests along the sides, and put up clean white perches for them to roost on. Indeed, they had as pleasant a home as hens could wish for.

Every day the farmer gave them plenty of food and fresh water. With a pleasant barnyard in which they could scratch all day, they ought to have been the happiest hens in the world.

But they were not happy. In fact they were very discontented, and it was all because the farmer took away their eggs every day. One summer morning the cock and the hens gathered in a corner of the yard to talk things over.

“The farmer has no right to take our eggs,” said the hens. “We laid them. They are ours. We don't go into his house and take things that belong to him.”

They ruffled up their feathers in anger whenever they saw the farmer. But their anger did no good, for every evening he took away the eggs.

Then the hens began to hide their nests. Some of them made nests under the woodpile, and some in the bushes. But this plan did not help them at all, for whenever a hen laid an egg, she always cackled. In the evening the farmer's wife would say to her husband, “Go and gather the eggs, my dear. The hens have been cackling all day.” And somehow he always found their nests.

“Why can't you keep still?” said the cock to the hens. “Do you have to tell the whole world whenever you lay an egg?”

“Can you keep from crowing at sunrise?”asked the hens.

“No,” said the cock. “It is my business to crow then.”

“Well, it is our business to cackle when we lay our eggs,” said the hens.

At last they made a new plan. They decided to run away to the woods. There they thought they would not be bothered by the farmer.

Early the next morning, with a great flapping of wings, the hens followed the cock over the fence and ran away to the woods. What fun it was to wander among the tall trees!

“Cluck! cluck! cluck! Oh, see these large red berries!” cried one hen.

“And these dry leaves make the softest of nests,” said another.

“I will find the best roosting place,” said the cock, as he walked proudly among the trees. “I am glad we thought of this good plan.”

For a little while all went well. It was just like a picnic. The hens cackled and cackled, but no one came to gather their eggs.

Then one night something happened that frightened Brown Hen, who always liked a low roosting place. She heard a rustling in the bushes behind her. It was lucky for her that she had not gone to sleep yet, for Red Fox was creeping up to catch her. She flew up on to a high branch just in time.

There she sat with her eyes wide open all night long. After that she never slept well, and she began to get quite thin and cross from worry.

A month passed, and the nights grew chilly. Before long the leaves began to fall, and soon a few snowflakes fluttered down. It became harder and harder to find food, too. But worst of all. Red Fox, with several of his cousins, kept prowling around, trying to catch the chickens.

At last Brown Hen could stand it no longer. “What a foolish flock of hens we are,” said she. “We ran away from a safe, warm home and plenty of food just because the farmer took our eggs. Who built our home? Who gave us food every day and a safe roosting place at night? The good farmer did. Well, surely it is only fair for him to have our eggs to pay him for his trouble. I am going back to lay an egg for him this very day.”

“So am I!” “And I!” “And I!” said the other hens, as they started back to the farm-yard.

The cock followed them at a little distance. “It's very queer I never thought of that,” said he.

—Old German Tale