THE STORY OF THE HEN, HARE, THE DOG AND THE CAT

 

(THE HEN AND THE MAIZE)

Once upon a time a hen befriended a dog, a cat and a hare.

One of the days, the hen got a maize on the ground.

The hen decided to plant the seed so that it can grow to many maize cobs with a lot of maize so that her friends and she could not be hungry. She wanted her friend to plant the seed with her, cultivate, water and harvest the maize with her and so on.

The hen approached her friends and asked them. 'Who will plant the maize with me?' The hare said 'no, I can't', the dog said, 'no, I can't', the cat said, 'no, I can't'.

Then, the little hen planted the maize all alone. She then approached her friends and asked, 'who will water the maize with me?' The hare said 'no, I can't', the dog said, 'no, I can't', the cat said, 'no, I can't'.

The little hen then headed to the well to fetch water. The hen brought a lot of water and watered the maize that was growing in her farm.

Then hen then asked her friends, 'who is willing to cultivate the maize with me' The hare said 'no, I can't', the dog said, 'no, I can't', the cat said, 'no, I can't'. The hen then cultivated the maize all alone for many days.

After so many days, the maize grew and there were many maize cobs on it. Then the hen asked her friends, 'who is willing to harvest the maize with me?' The hare said 'no, I can't', the dog said, 'no, I can't', the cat said, 'no, I can't'.

Then, the little hen harvested the maize all by herself.

The little hen asked them, 'who is willing to prepare and cook the maize with me?'The hare said 'no, I can't', the dog said, 'no, I can't', the cat said, 'no, I can't'.

Then the little hen prepared the maize and cooked it alone. The hen then asked her friends, 'who will eat the maize with me?' The hare answered, 'me, me!', the dog, 'me, me!', the cat, 'me, me!'.

The little hen then said, 'I refused. You will not eat it with me because you refused to plant it with me, to water it with me, you refused to cultivate, harvest it, prepare and cook it with me'. 

The little hen told them to forget eating with her'. The hen enjoyed eating her maize all alone and it lasted for her for so many months and years.

QUESTIONS

1. Who were the friends of the little hen?

2.How many friends did the hen have?

3. What did the hen got?

4. When the hen asked them to help her, what answer did they give?

5. Finally, did the hen allow them to eat the maize with her?

6. What lesson can we learn from this story?

7. Which proverb applies to this story?