Once upon a time, on a dirty old farm, there was a gentle-spirited chicken named Gertrude McCluck. One fall day, Gertrude woke up to a sky that was dark and cloudy. Rain began splashing everywhere. The wind was tearing at the trees like a child ripping open a Christmas present. About the middle of the day a big, black tornado came twisting through the sky. The farmer hunted for Gertrude.
Gertrude was his favorite hen because she has the most selfless attitude of his entire laying flock. The farmer scooped up Gertrude and ran as fast as he possibly could to the root cellar. It took all his strength to force open the door against the powerful wind. He dove into the cellar just as the door slammed behind him. While the farmer and his sweet hen found shelter in the well-stocked root cellar, the storm destroyed the farm above them. The huge tornado smashed the barn into 100,000 pieces. Without a barn for Gertrude to sleep in, the farmer had to adopt her out to a brand new far down the road.
There were two nasty, hackle-feathered chickens at the new farm named Lizzy and Izzy. These two hens wanted their farmer to notice them and think that they were the best hens in his flock. In order to get the attention of the farmer, and everyone else in the barnyard, Lizzy and Izzy practiced making themselves look better than all the other hens in the coop. Instead of laying eggs on a regular basis, these to vain bird would spend most of the their time in the nearby dust baths. Lizzy and Izzy would peck at Gertrude's eggs so the farmer would only notice their own eggs. Those mean birds would eat all the good scratch first so their own crops looked full and beautiful while Gertrude seemed hungry and weak. I even heard it said that Lizzy and Izzy would dump water on Gertrude so that her golden-laced plumage was wet and scrawny looking.
You are probably wondering what Gertrude did to get back at those selfish old hens. Well, she did nothing. Gertrude's attitude was to treat others the way she wanted to be treated; a Golden-Laced Wyandotte practicing the Golden Rule.
A couple days after Gertrude arrived at the new farm, the farmer brought home another chicken that was left in the middle of nowhere after the tornado blew a path of destruction across the countryside. This young bird introduced himself as Prince Cockerel of the Red Castle Farm. Prince Cockerel had shiny, rainbow-colored feathers across his back; bright red double comb, and sparkly green eyes. The rough wind had swiped several of his lovely tail feathers, but his kind and gentle manner is what caught the ladies eyes.
After Prince Cockerel arrived, Lizzy and Izzy began acting even stranger than usual. They were very vain, trying to get Prince Cockerel to notice them. They puffed their plumage. They brandished their beaks. They clucked out their cluckiest clucks. They made Gertrude do all the dirty work around the barnyard while they spend their time strutting in the sunshine. Gertrude was not allowed at the feeder until Izzy and Lizzy had filled their crops. Instead of keeping their own nest boxes neat, they forced Gertrude to pick up after them. When Gertrude was not looking, those jealous birds would sneak into her nicely-kept nest and squash her eggs.
Well, just like they wanted, Lizzy and Izzy DID get noticed. Both the farmer and Prince Cockerel noticed Lizzy and Izzy! However, they also notice Gertrude. Prince Cockerel notice how Gertrude kept the nests neat, let others eat first, and dusted her feathers in the far corners of the lot. The Prince selected Gertrude to be the mother of his chicks because of her humble and thoughtful attitude. The farmer noticed how Lizzy and Izzy ate more than their share of corn, destroyed the eggs he needed for his breakfast, and spent more time fluffing and clucking than providing eggs of their own. He selected them to be sent to the chopping block to be turned into supper
Like the poultry in this story, you too should be careful about being vain and trying to get other people to notice you. You will most likely get the WRONG kind of attentions, if you have the wrong kind of attitude.
