The Rooster and the Little Purse

The Rooster and the Little Purse

Once there lived an old man and an old woman. The old woman had a hen, and the old man had a rooster with a red comb and a very loud crow. The hen laid eggs every day. The old woman kept them for herself and did not like to share. One morning, the old man asked, “Please give me one egg for breakfast.” “Why should I?” said the old woman. “You have your rooster. Ask him to bring you something useful.” She said this crossly and unfairly. But the old man grew cross, too, instead of thinking calmly. He went into the yard and told the rooster, “Go wherever you like. Come back when you have something to boast about.” The rooster tilted his head. “Cock-a-doodle-doo?” he asked, as if he wanted to make sure he had heard correctly. But the old man had already shut the door. What could the rooster do? He set off down the road. He walked with tiny steps, finding a grain here, noticing a beetle there. Then he saw a little purse lying in the dust. He picked it up with his beak. Inside, two small half-penny coins jingled. “What a find!” said the rooster. “If I meet the owner, I will return it. If not, I will show the old man that I did not come back with an empty beak.” He took the purse and started home. Just then, a splendid carriage rolled down the road. Inside sat a rich gentleman. He saw the rooster carrying the purse and told his driver, “See what that bird has.” The driver stopped the horses, took the purse, and handed it to the gentleman. “Two coins,” said the rich man. “Not much, but money is money.” The carriage rolled on. The rooster was astonished. Then he spread his wings and ran after it. “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Sir, can you hear me? Give back my purse! What is not yours should not be taken!” The rich man frowned. “What a noisy bird.” But the rooster would not be left behind. “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Give back what is mine!” The carriage passed an old well. The rich man grew tired of hearing the rooster’s cry and told the driver to carry the bird away from the road. The driver placed the rooster on the edge of the well, hoping he would be frightened and fly away. But the rooster slipped and tumbled in. “Well, here I am,” he muttered from the water. But he was a rooster from a fairy tale. He filled his chest with air and began to drink. He drank and drank and drank until the water level fell low enough for him to climb out. He shook his feathers and raced after the carriage once again. “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Give back my purse!” The rich man jumped in his seat. “Him again!” When they reached the rich man’s house, the rooster was already beneath the window. “Cock-a-doodle-doo! What belongs to another should be returned!” The rich man tried to hide the stubborn visitor in the kitchen so that he would not hear him from the yard. But a great fire burned there, and the rooster grew uncomfortably hot. Then he remembered the water from the well. “Glug, glug, glug!” he cried, and released every last drop. The fire hissed and went out. Little streams ran across the kitchen floor, and the rooster calmly walked outside. “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Give back my purse!” The rich man did not know what else to do. “Take him to the herd,” he ordered. “Perhaps he will forget his two little coins there.” The rooster found himself among cows, calves, and oxen. They looked down at the little visitor in surprise. Then the rooster felt that his fairy-tale power had not yet run out. “If a whole well could fit inside me,” he said, “perhaps you can, too?” Something extraordinary happened. One after another, the animals stepped through an invisible doorway behind his beak and disappeared into a roomy magical shelter. No one was hurt. From inside came peaceful mooing. The rooster returned beneath the rich man’s window. “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Give back my purse!” The rich man looked out and saw no animals at all. “Impossible!” he cried. Then he decided to lock the rooster in the treasury. “There he will surely become distracted,” he thought. Chests full of coins stood in the treasury. The rooster looked at them and said, “So you needed my two coins, but all of this is still not enough for you?” He opened his beak, and another fairy-tale wonder began. Golden coins rose from the chests, swirled in a shining little whirlwind, and vanished into the same magical shelter where the herd was waiting. When the rich man saw his empty chests, all his pride vanished at last. He took the little purse, went to the rooster, and held it out. “Here. Take it. I should have returned it at once.” The rooster picked up the purse. “Cock-a-doodle-doo! Now that is right.” And he started for home. Birds from the rich man’s yard followed behind him, for they had grown fond of this brave traveler. The rooster walked so proudly that it looked like a festive parade. When the old man heard the familiar crow, he ran out through the gate. “Rooster! You have come back!” Then he felt ashamed. “I was wrong to send you away. You did not have to prove anything to me.” The rooster set the purse on the ground. “Spread a large cloth in the yard,” he said. The old man did as he was told. The rooster shook his wings. First the cows, oxen, and calves came out of the magical shelter, alive and calm. Then the shining coins flew out and settled in a great heap upon the cloth. The old man stood with his mouth open. “Where did all this come from?” The rooster told him about the road, the purse, the carriage, the well, the kitchen, and the treasury. “Now we are rich!” cried the old man. “Being rich does not make a person good,” said the rooster. “Remember how easily you grew angry over a single egg.” The old man scratched his head. “That is fair. From now on, we will live differently.” Just then, the old woman came into the yard. She saw the coins and immediately wanted the same kind of wonder. “My hen can bring treasure, too!” she said. She ran to the hen and demanded angrily, “Go on, bring me gold!” The hen was frightened and slipped out through the gate. Before long, she returned. In her beak was a small glass bead that sparkled in the sunlight. The hen placed it in her nest and clucked proudly. The old woman looked inside. “A bead? Is that all?” She was about to grow angry again, but the rooster stepped in front of the hen. “Wait. She brought what she found. Why do you think the world must repeat someone else’s wonder for you?” The old woman was silent. Then she took the bead into her palm. It was very simple, but it shimmered beautifully in the light. “Perhaps I wanted too much,” she said more quietly. After that, the old man and old woman stopped quarreling about eggs and coins. They used part of their wealth for their home, shared part with people who were having a difficult time, and made a warm, roomy yard for the birds. The rooster wore his little purse on a ribbon around his neck. The two half-pennies stayed inside. Not because they were a great treasure. They reminded everyone that even two small coins are worth defending when fairness is at stake. But the greatest value is not in how much we can take for ourselves. It is in whether we learn to act honestly.

May this story leave a little light in your heart ✨