One day, out of nowhere, a hen got shelter
along with a few other hens
in a small corner of a huge palace
amidst a pile of broken packing boxes.
Though it got shelter
it didn't get enough food to eat.
It let out a sharp cry of protest
till its throat cracked,
from morning to evening,
yet it found no sympathy in the huge, strong building.
Then began frequent visits to the dustbin.
Surprise! Every day, it found there
thrown away, magical rice and bread aplenty.
Soon the dustbin had new visitors, asking for a share -
dirty and broken, poverty-stricken, dressed in rags, a few men.
The food supply stopped for the weakness-abundant hen.
Food! Food! Food to eat!
The helpless hen went in search of food.
Time and again, it tried to enter the palace
and each time, it was royally snubbed.
The small hen raised its head high and dreamt -
heaps and heaps of food within the palace walls!
Then, one day, it went into the palace indeed;
at once, it went, straight ahead
to the expensive, snow-white cloth-covered table
definitely not to eat the food -
but as the food.
Translated by Hari Ravikumar
