And she asked the king, “Where are all my chickens?”
But he was proud and angry, and said, “They are of no use in the world. I would not care if they always stayed away.”
Hong-Mo answered, “You are not the only chicken in the world. I want the others to come back. If you drive them all away, you will surely see trouble.” [[40]]
But the king laughed and jumped up on the fence and crowed—“Nga-Un-Gan-Yu-Na” (coo-ka-doodle-doo-oo) in a loud voice. “I don’t care for you! I don’t care for you!”
Hong-Mo went out and called the chickens, and she hunted long through the twilight until the dark night came, but she could not find them. The next morning early she went to the vegetable garden, and there she found her chickens. They were glad to see her, and bowed their heads and flew to her.
Hong-Mo said, “What are you doing? Why do you children stay out here, when I have given you a good house to live in?”
The secretary told her all about the trouble with the king.
Hong-Mo said, “Now you must be friendly to each other. Come with me, and I will bring you and your king together. We must have peace here.”
When the chickens came to where the king was, he walked about, and scraped his wings on the ground, and sharpened his spurs. His people had come to make peace, and they bowed their heads and looked happy when they saw their king. But he still walked about alone and would not bow.
He said, “I am a king—always a king. Do you know that? You bow your heads and think that [[41]]pleases me. But what do I care? I should not care if there was never another chicken in the world but myself. I am king.”