The Cock and the Jewel – An Aesop’s Fable
Cock in shimmering feathers that caught the sunlight in a kaleidoscope of colors, Edgar the Rooster was the unofficial guardian of a small but bustling farm. His days were spent foraging for grains and insects, calling out to signal the start of a new day, and watching over his flock of hens.
One fateful afternoon, while scratching the earth to uncover food, Edgar’s beak hit something hard and cold. Intrigued, he swept aside the dirt and revealed a gemstone that sparkled with an almost ethereal glow. It was a sapphire, a precious stone that could buy the entire village if need be.
“Ah,” mused Edgar, “if the farmer who owns this land had found you instead of me, you would be set in a ring or a crown by now. But what purpose do you serve in my world?”
He looked at the gemstone, its beauty failing to stir any excitement within him. Then he glanced at a nearby barleycorn, the simple grain that had sustained him and his flock for as long as he could remember.
“To me,” Edgar concluded, “this single grain of barley is worth more than all the sapphires and diamonds that fill the Earth. For what good is a stone when it cannot fill an empty stomach or warm a cold night?”
With that realization, Edgar kicked the sapphire back into the soil and continued his search for food, his heart swelling with a newfound appreciation for the simple yet essential things in life.
What principles and lessons can be learned from the above stories?
The Cock and the Jewel serves as a poignant reminder that value is a subjective construct. What may seem invaluable to one may hold little to no significance to another. The story challenges us to rethink our own priorities, asking us what we truly value and why. For Edgar, the answer was simple yet profound: sustenance and the well-being of his flock were worth more than material wealth.
In our own lives, we often chase after what society deems valuable, overlooking the simple joys and necessities that actually sustain us. Edgar’s preference for a single grain of barley over a precious gemstone serves as a metaphor for the importance of acknowledging and appreciating the essential over the extravagant.
May we all find our own ‘barleycorns,’ the simple yet invaluable elements that truly enrich our lives.
