The Cock and the Pearl

In the courtyard of a bustling farmhouse, there lived a proud red rooster named Cornelius who took his responsibilities as leader of the barnyard very seriously. Every morning, he would crow loudly to announce the dawn, strut around the yard to ensure all the hens were safe, and spend his days scratching in the dirt to find seeds, insects, and other tasty morsels for himself and his feathered family.

Cornelius was known throughout the farm for his diligence and practical nature. While some of the other animals spent time gossiging or lazing in the sun, he was always busy working—either finding food, protecting the hens from predators, or maintaining order in the chicken coop.

One particularly beautiful morning, as golden sunlight streamed across the farmyard and the air was filled with the sweet scent of honeysuckle from the garden, Cornelius was engaged in his usual activity of scratching through the dirt near the farmhouse, looking for his breakfast.

The farmer’s family had hosted a grand celebration the night before, with music, dancing, and many elegantly dressed guests. The party had lasted well into the night, and the servants hadn’t yet had time to clean up all the remnants from the festivities.

As Cornelius scratched energetically through the loose soil near the garden path, his sharp claws struck something hard and smooth buried just beneath the surface. Curious about this unusual object, he used his beak to carefully uncover what he had found.

To his amazement, Cornelius discovered a magnificent pearl that gleamed like moonlight even in the morning sun. It was perfectly round and lustrous, obviously very precious and beautiful. The pearl had apparently been dropped by one of the wealthy guests during the previous evening’s celebration and had been accidentally covered with dirt.

Cornelius had never seen anything quite so lovely. The pearl’s surface reflected the morning light in the most enchanting way, creating tiny rainbows that danced across its smooth surface. It was clearly something of great value and beauty, the kind of treasure that humans prized above almost anything else.

“Well, well,” said Cornelius, examining the pearl with his keen black eyes. “What have we here? This is certainly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever found while scratching for my breakfast.”

He picked up the pearl gently in his beak and held it up to catch the sunlight, marveling at how it seemed to glow with an inner light. The other chickens, noticing that Cornelius had found something unusual, gathered around to see what had captured their leader’s attention.

“Oh my,” clucked Henrietta, one of the older hens. “That’s absolutely gorgeous! Look how it shines! I’ve never seen anything so elegant and refined.”

“It must be worth a fortune,” added another hen admiringly. “The humans are always excited about such shiny, beautiful objects. You’ve found yourself a real treasure, Cornelius!”

All the chickens were impressed by the pearl’s obvious beauty and value. They gathered around Cornelius, congratulating him on his remarkable discovery and marveling at the exquisite treasure he had uncovered.

However, as Cornelius continued to examine his find, a very practical problem became apparent. Despite its obvious beauty and value, the pearl was completely useless for satisfying his most immediate and pressing need—his hunger.

Cornelius had been scratching in the dirt because he was looking for breakfast, not treasure. His stomach was empty, and what he really needed was something nutritious and filling to eat. A pearl, no matter how beautiful or valuable, could not provide him with the sustenance he required.

“This is indeed a very beautiful and precious thing,” Cornelius said thoughtfully, setting the pearl down on a clean stone where it continued to gleam magnificently. “Any human would be thrilled to possess such a treasure. But I must ask myself: what good is it to me?”

The other chickens looked puzzled by his question. “What do you mean?” asked Henrietta. “It’s obviously valuable and lovely. Isn’t that enough?”

Cornelius shook his head wisely. “Beauty and value are wonderful things, but they must be considered in the context of one’s actual needs. Right now, my greatest need is not for something beautiful to look at, but for something nourishing to eat.”

He gestured with his wing toward the pearl, which continued to catch and reflect the morning sunlight. “This pearl cannot satisfy my hunger. I cannot eat it, and it cannot help me feed my family. While I can appreciate its beauty, it serves no practical purpose in my daily life.”

“But surely,” protested one of the younger hens, “you could trade it to the humans for something useful, like grain or corn!”

Cornelius considered this possibility. “Perhaps, if I could figure out how to communicate its value to them. But even then, I would be trading something beautiful for something practical. The pearl itself would still be useless to me directly.”

As he spoke, Cornelius noticed something glinting in the dirt just a few inches away from where he had found the pearl. Investigating with his beak, he uncovered a few kernels of wheat that had spilled from the farmer’s grain bucket the day before.

“Now this,” said Cornelius with satisfaction, quickly gobbling up the wheat kernels, “this is exactly what I need! These simple grains may not be beautiful or valuable in the way that humans measure worth, but they serve my purposes perfectly. They fill my stomach, give me energy, and help me stay strong and healthy.”

The other chickens watched as their leader chose the plain wheat over the gorgeous pearl, and gradually they began to understand his point.

“The pearl is magnificent,” Cornelius continued, “and in the right hands, it would be treasured and valued highly. But I am a rooster, not a jeweler or a wealthy merchant. My needs are simple and practical: food, shelter, safety for my family, and the ability to fulfill my duties here in the barnyard.”

Henrietta nodded slowly. “So you’re saying that the value of something depends on whether it meets your actual needs, not just on whether it’s beautiful or expensive?”

“Exactly,” replied Cornelius. “A hungry rooster values a grain of corn more than the finest pearl, just as a thirsty traveler values a cup of water more than a cup of gold. True worth is determined by usefulness, not just by beauty or rarity.”

With that wisdom shared, Cornelius left the pearl sitting on the stone where any human who passed by might notice and reclaim it. He returned to his important work of scratching in the dirt, looking for the simple, practical food that would actually serve his needs.

Later that morning, the farmer’s daughter discovered the pearl exactly where Cornelius had left it. She was delighted to return such a valuable treasure to their wealthy neighbor who had lost it during the previous evening’s celebration.

Meanwhile, Cornelius found several more wheat kernels, a few tasty seeds, and a couple of fat beetles that made for a perfectly satisfying breakfast. As he ate, he felt content with his choice to value substance over beauty, practicality over prestige.

The other chickens learned an important lesson from watching their wise leader. They came to understand that while it’s natural to admire beautiful and valuable things, true wisdom lies in recognizing what actually serves your needs and purposes in life.

From that day forward, whenever any of the farm animals found themselves tempted to value something merely because it was beautiful or expensive, they would remember Cornelius and his pearl, and ask themselves whether the object in question would actually improve their lives in practical ways.

Moral: True value lies not in beauty or rarity, but in usefulness. What matters most is not how precious something appears to others, but how well it serves your actual needs and circumstances. A simple thing that meets a real need is worth more than a treasure that serves no practical purpose.