The hens stood waiting while he scratched.

But the first thing that he found was neither a beetle nor a worm but a precious stone. It may have been a ruby or an emerald.

"Dear me!" said the Cock; "what is this? a Jewel! How glad anybody else might be to have found such a prize; but I have no need of it. I would rather have a few kernels of good corn than all the Jewels in the world."

"And so would we," said the hens. "Nothing can do us good if it is not a thing that we ourselves want."