Atondido Stories
How the Speckled Hen Got Her Speckles
Once upon a time, ages and ages ago, there was a little white
hen. One day she was busily engaged in scratching the soil to
find worms and insects for her breakfast. As she worked she
sang over and over again her little crooning song, "Quirrichi,
quirrichi, quirrichi." Suddenly she noticed a tiny piece of paper
lying on the ground. "Quirrichi, quirrichi, what luck!" she said to
herself. "This must be a letter. One time when the king, the great
ruler of our country, held his court in the meadow close by,
many people brought him letters and laid them at his feet. Now
I, too, even I, the little white hen, have a letter. I am going to car-
ry my letter to the king."
The next morning the little white hen started bravely out on
her long journey. She carried the letter very carefully in her little
brown basket. It was a long distance to the royal palace where
the king lived. The little white hen had never been so far from
home in all her life.
After a while she met a friendly fox. Foxes and little white
hens are not usually very good friends, you know, but this fox
was a friend of the little white hen. Once upon a time she had
helped the fox to escape from a trap and the fox had never for-
gotten her kindness to him.
"O, little white hen, where are you going?" asked the fox.
"Quirrichi, quirrichi," replied the little white hen, "I am going
to the royal palace to carry a letter to the king."
"Indeed, little white hen," said the fox, "I should like to go
with you. Give me your permission to accompany you on your
journey."
"I shall be glad to have you go with me," said the little white
hen. "It is a very long journey to the royal palace where the king
lives. Wouldn't you like me to carry you in my little brown
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