fables folktales · Ages 9-12

The Rooster Who Found a Jewel and Still Wanted Grain

A rooster dismisses a treasure he cannot use, showing that value depends on need as much as brightness.

The whole story

1. At first light, a sturdy adult rooster with russet-red feathers scratched beneath the barn wall. He hoped to uncover a few grains before the hens woke.

2. His beak struck something hard. He tugged it free and found a large red jewel, bright enough to catch the whole morning.

3. He turned the jewel this way and that. It flashed like a captured sunrise, but it had no scent, no crunch, and no shell to crack.

4. “Perhaps this is worth a fine breakfast,” he said to a hen passing by. She pecked the ground beside it and uncovered three ordinary grains.

5. Near the well, he asked an old tortoise what the jewel was good for. The tortoise touched it gently and answered, “It may buy many things, but it cannot fill an empty crop.”

6. At the market, a careful jeweler examined the stone and offered a heavy sack of grain. The rooster looked at the sack, then at the jewel, and wondered how long the bargain would take.

7. The jeweler said, “You could feed the whole yard with its price.” The rooster glanced toward the empty place in his stomach and wished the jewel were already a bowl of grain.

8. The rooster carried the jewel home. He set it beside the barn, where it shone beautifully and helped him not at all.

9. Then he scratched once more. A single grain appeared beneath his claw. He picked it up, swallowed it, and scratched again.

10. The jewel was brighter than any grain, but grain was what he needed. So the rooster left the treasure gleaming on its stone and kept searching for supper.

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