A COCK discovered a beautiful stone while searching for food for himself and his hens. He cried, “If thy owner had found thee, and not I, he would have taken thee up, and have put thee in thy first estate; but I have found thee for no purpose.” If I had to choose between one barleycorn and all of the gems in the world, I’d choose the barleycorn any day.

Image by svklimkin from Pixabay.