A long time ago, there were two brothers; one was poor and had to live in the forest, and the other was rich and lived comfortably in town.
One day, the poor brother found a golden feather under a tree. To his amazement when looking up he saw a cock smiling at him from the branches above.
He took the golden feather to his wealthy brother who said, ‘It’s beautiful, but is of little value. I’ll give you a silver coin for it.’
The trusting poor brother had never had such a precious item before and unknowingly thought that a silver coin was a good price for the feather.
The following day, the poor brother went again to the tree and found yet another golden feather. His dishonest brother once again bought the feather for a silver coin and this continued for many days.
One day as the poor brother stooped down to pick up the golden feather, the cock crowed and said,’ If anyone eats my heart, he will find two golden eggs every morning under his pillow.’
The poor brother told his brother about this who said, ‘If you bring me the dead cock, I’ll give you one thousand silver coins.’
‘I don’t want your silver coins, but I want you to adopt my two sons so that they can enjoy a comfortable life like you,’ he replied.
The brother promised to adopt the sons in return for the dead cock.
Early next morning, he went to the tree and shot the cock with his bow and arrow. He took his sons and the bird to his brother. However, the boys were made to act as servants and cook the cock for dinner. In order to please their uncle, the boys obeyed, but to their surprise, the heart of the cock jumped out of the cooking pot on to the floor.
‘On dear, we cannot serve it to uncle as it’s dirty and we’ll have to throw it away! On the other hand, we’re so hungry, let’s share and eat it.’
When their uncle sat down for dinner, he looked in the dish for the cock’s heart but could not find it. He became angry and banished the boys from his house with harsh blows. The boys returned home to their father in tears.
The following day, however, magically, each found a golden egg on awakening under the pillow. Their father sold them to an honest merchant who gave them a fair price for the precious eggs. The family then became even richer than the rich brother.