The Death of the Little Hen

Once upon a time, the little hen went with the little cock to the nut-hill. They agreed that whichever of them found a nut kernel should share it with the other. Then the hen found a very large nut, but she said nothing about it. She wanted to eat the kernel herself. But the kernel was so big that she could not swallow it. It stuck in her throat, and she was afraid she would choke. She cried, 'Cock, please run as fast as you can and fetch me some water, or I shall choke.'

The little cock ran as fast as he could to the spring and said, 'Stream, please give me some water. The little hen is lying on the nut-hill. She has swallowed a large nut and is choking.' The well answered, 'First run to the bride and get her to give you some red silk.'

The little cock ran to the bride and said, 'Bride, please give me some red silk. I want to give red silk to the well, so the well will give me water to take to the little hen, who is lying on the nut-hill and has swallowed a great nut kernel and is choking.' The bride answered, 'First run and bring me my little wreath that is hanging on a willow.'

So the little cock ran to the willow, pulled the wreath from the branch, and took it to the bride. The bride gave him some water for it. Then the little cock took the water to the hen, but when he got there, the hen had already choked and lay dead and still.

The cock was so sad that he cried out loud. Every animal came to mourn the little hen. Six mice built a little carriage to carry her to her grave. When the carriage was ready, they harnessed themselves to it, and the cock drove. On the way, they met the fox, who said, 'Where are you going, little cock?' 'I am going to bury my little hen.' 'May I ride with you?' 'Yes, but sit at the back, because in front my little horses cannot pull you.'

So the fox sat at the back. Then came the wolf, the bear, the stag, the lion, and all the beasts of the forest, and they all sat at the back. The procession moved on until they reached a stream. 'How will we get across?' said the little cock. A straw lay by the stream and said, 'I will lie across, and you can drive over me.' But when the six mice stepped onto the bridge, the straw slipped and fell into the water. The six mice all fell in and drowned.

Now they were stuck again. A coal came and said, 'I am big enough. I will lie across, and you can drive over me.' So the coal lay across the water, but it touched the water, hissed, went out, and died.

When a stone saw this, it felt sorry for the little cock and wanted to help. The stone lay across the water. Then the cock pulled the carriage himself. But when he got the carriage over and reached the other shore with the dead hen, he tried to pull the others who were sitting at the back.

There were too many of them. The carriage rolled back, and they all fell into the water and drowned.

Now the little cock was alone with the dead hen. He dug a grave for her, laid her in it, and made a mound above it. He sat on the mound and grieved until he died too. And then everyone was dead.