A widow named Hong-Mo lived in a small house near the market. Every year, she raised hundreds of chickens to earn money for herself and her two children.
Every day, the chickens walked to the nearby fields to look for food like bugs, rice, and green plants.
The biggest chicken was called the king of the chickens because he was the strongest. He led the flock to new feeding places, and he crowed the loudest. None of the other chickens dared to argue with him.
One day, the king said, “Let’s go to the other side of the mountain near the wilderness. There will be more food: rice, wheat, corn, and maybe even wild silkworms.”
But the other chickens said, “We’re scared to go that far. There are foxes and eagles there. They might catch us!”
The king snorted, “Fine. All the old hens and cowards can stay home.”
His secretary, a brave chicken, said, “I’m not afraid. I’ll go with you.”
So they both set off. After walking a short distance, the secretary found a beetle. Just as he was about to eat it, the king flew at him angrily.
“Beetles are for kings! Why didn’t you give it to me?”
They fought, and while they fought, the beetle slipped away and hid.
The secretary was fed up. “I won’t fight for you any more, and I’m not going to the wilderness with you!” So he went back home.
At sunset, the king came home alone. The other chickens had saved the best roost for him, but he was still angry. He attacked them one by one, pulling out feathers and showing off his strength. None could fight back.
The flock talked among themselves and said, “We will not serve this king any more. If Hong-Mo won’t give us a new home, we’ll sleep in the vegetable garden for a few nights. Maybe then she’ll notice.”
So the next evening, when Hong-Mo waited for her chickens, only the king returned.
She asked, “Where are the others?”
The king puffed up proudly. “They’re useless. I don’t care if they never come back.”
Hong-Mo warned him, “You’re not the only chicken in the world. If you chase everyone away, trouble will come.”
But the king just jumped on the fence and crowed loudly, “I don’t care! I don’t care!”
Hong-Mo searched through the twilight and into the night but couldn’t find the flock.
Early next morning, she found them in the vegetable garden. They were happy to see her and ran to her.
She asked, “Why are you sleeping out here when I gave you a good house?”
The secretary told her everything that happened.
Hong-Mo said, “You all must learn to get along. Come, I’ll bring you back to your king so we can make peace.”
But when they returned, the king acted proud again. He scraped his wings on the ground, sharpened his spurs, and strutted around. His chickens bowed to him, hoping he would calm down, but he ignored them.
“I am a king, always a king!” he shouted. “I don’t care if there are no other chickens in the world but me!”
Then he hopped onto a tree and began to crow loud war songs.
But suddenly, an eagle heard his loud crowing. WHOOSH! It swooped down, grabbed the king in its sharp claws, and carried him away.
The flock never saw their proud, quarrelsome king again.
Meaning of the story: no matter how high your position is, you never have the right to be proud, rude, or quarrelsome.