When they had gone a little distance, the Secretary found a beetle, and
just as he was going to swallow it, the King flew at him in great
anger, saying, "Beetles are for kings, not for common chickens. Why
did you not give it to me?" So they fought together, and while they
were fighting, the beetle ran away and hid under the grass where he
could not be found.
And the Secretary said, "I will not fight for you, neither will I go to
the wilderness with you." And he went home again.
At sunset the King came home. The other Chickens had saved the best
roosting place for him; but he was angry because none of them had been
willing to go to the wilderness with him, and he fought first with one
and then with another.
He was a mighty warrior, and therefore none of them could stand up
against him. And he pulled the feathers out of many of the flock.
At last the Chickens said, "We will not serve this king any longer. We
will leave this place. If Hong-Mo will not give us another home, we
will stay in the vegetable garden. We will do that two or three
nights, and see if she will give us another place to live."
So the next day, when Hong-Mo waited at sunset for the Chickens to come
home, the King was the only one who came.
And she asked the King, "Where are all my Chickens?"
But he was proud and angry, and said, "They are of no use in the world.
I would not care if they always stayed away."
Hong-Mo answered, "You are not the only Chicken in the world. I want
the others to come back. If you drive them all away, you will surely
see trouble."
But the King laughed and jumped up on the fence and crowed.
"Nga-Un-Gan-Yu-Na" (cock-a-doodle-doo-oo) in a loud voice. "I don't
care for you! I don't care for you!"
Hong-Mo went out and called the Chickens, and she hunted long through
the twilight until the dark night came, but she could not find them.
The next morning early she went to the vegetable garden, and there she
found her Chickens. They were glad to see her, and bowed their heads
and flew to her.
Hong-Mo said, "What are you doing? Why do you children stay out here,
when I have given you a good house to live in?"
The Secretary told her all about the trouble with the King.
Hong-Mo said, "Now you must be friendly to each other. Come with me,
and I will bring you and your King together. We must have peace here."
When the Chickens came to where the King was he walked about, and
scraped his wings on the ground, and sharpened his spurs. His people
had come to make peace, and they bowed their heads and looked happy
when they saw their King. But he still walked about alone and would
not bow.
He said, "I am a King--always a King. Do you know that? You bow your
heads and think that pleases me. But what do I care? I should not
care if there was never another Chicken in the world but myself. I am
King."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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