The Orion Party
Some Stories
The Little Red Hen
Once upon a time there was a little red hen who lived on a farm.
One morning, the little red hen found some grains of wheat. She took them to her friends in the farmyard.
"Who will help me to plant this wheat?" the little red hen asked her friends.
"Not I," said the cat.
"Not I," said the rat.
"Not I," said the pig.
"Then I shall plant the wheat myself," said the little red hen.
And that's just what she did. She planted the grains in a neat row in the sunniest part of the field.
The little red hen looked after the wheat carefully. She watered it and watched it grow.
At last the wheat was tall and strong and golden. The little red hen knew it was ready to be cut.
"Who will help me to cut the wheat?" the little red hen asked her friends.
"Not I," said the cat.
"Not I," said the rat.
"Not I," said the pig.
"Then I shall cut the wheat myself," said the little red hen.
And that's just what she did. With her little scythe, she carefully cut down each stalk of golden wheat.
Then she went back to her friends. "Who will help me to take the wheat to the miller?" she asked.
"Not I," said the cat.
"Not I," said the rat.
"Not I," said the pig.
"Then I shall take the wheat to the miller myself," said the little red hen.
And that's just what she did. She carried the wheat to the mill, and the miller ground it into flour. He put the flour into a sack for the little red hen.
The little red hen took the sack of flour back to the farmyard.
"Who will help me to take this flour to the baker?" she asked her friends.
"Not I," said the cat.
"Not I," said the rat.
"Not I," said the pig.
"Then I shall take it to the baker myself," said the little red hen.
And that's just what she did. The baker made the flour into a loaf of fresh, tasty bread. The little red hen took it back to the farmyard.
"Who will help me to eat this bread?" the little red hen asked her friends.
"I will!" said the cat.
"I will!" said the rat.
"I will!" said the pig.
"No, you will not!" said the little red hen. "I shall eat this fresh, tasty bread all by myself!"
And that's just what she did!
The wind and the sun
One day the wind said to the sun, "Look at that man walking along the road. I can get his cloak off more quickly than you can."
"We will see about that," said the sun. "I will let you try first."
So the wind tried to make the man take off his cloak. He blew and blew, but the man only pulled his cloak more closely around himself.
"I give up," said the wind at last. "I cannot get his cloak off."
Then the sun tried. He shone as hard as he could. The man soon became hot and took off his cloak.
"I have won," said the sun.
"I made him take his cloak off."
Moral : Kindness often gets things done more quickly than force.
The goose that laid the golden eggs
Once an old man and an old woman had a goose. Their goose was not like other geese because its eggs where different. They were made of gold.
Every day the goose laid a golden egg for the old man and the old woman.
They sold the eggs for a lot of money. But the more money they had the more they wanted.
They said, "If our goose lays golden eggs she must be made of gold. So let us cut her open and get out all the gold at once. Then we will have more money."
So they killed the goose, but found no gold.
When their goose was cut open they saw that she was just like any other goose.
And after that there were no more golden eggs. So they did not get any more money. They had nothing left in the end.
Moral : A greedy man can lose all he has.
I understood all three of these stories when I was five or six. I understood their real meanings in context to the real world. This takes a certain amount, a certain small amount, of wisdom. To me they are both very clear and obvious. If you are a ruler now, and you do not have this level of understanding to understand these tales you must question your ability and right to rule. Wisdom is by far more important than knowledge.