How the Hen

How Hen Got Her Speckles: A South American Folktale, Part 1

One day, White Hen was scratching the soil to find bugs and worms to eat for her breakfast. Suddenly, she noticed a letter lying on the ground. She saw that it was addressed to the king. Someone must have dropped it, she thought.

"I must deliver this to His Majesty!" she said. "The letter may contain very important news!"

The next morning, White Hen started on her long journey. She carefully placed the letter in her basket and headed toward the royal palace. Along the way, White Hen met her old friend, the fox. She had once saved the fox by releasing him from a trap.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Someone dropped this letter to the king, and I intend to deliver it," she replied. The fox was a curious fellow. He knew that the letter could contain some very important news, so he decided to take the trip with her. White Hen was glad to have some company, so she opened her basket, and the fox jumped in. The two of them continued the journey.

Next, White Hen came to a river that had been a dear friend of hers for a long time. She had once helped the river by eating some of the icky worms that were living in it.

"Where are you going?" asked the river.

"To the king," she replied. "Someone dropped this letter addressed to him."

The river always enjoyed a change of scenery and wanted to join in on this important journey. So, White Hen opened her basket, and the river flowed in.

Then, White Hen came upon a flame. She had once fed the flame some twigs and dried leaves to keep it from going out. When the flame heard about the letter, it wanted to come along, too. By this time, the little brown basket was so full, that, try as they might, they couldn't make room for the flame. At last they thought of a plan. The flame changed itself into a pile of ashes, and then there was enough room to get into the basket with the others