The Story of the Rooster

A story from Palestinian folklore about a rooster that crowed on the threshing floor. What do you think happened to him?

Palestinian – Once upon a time, in the beautiful meadows of Palestine, specifically in the meadow of Ibn Amer, there was a rooster named Al-Hadar. One day, he went out to look for food in the fields and found a grain of wheat. He picked it up and walked and walked and walked until he saw an old woman grinding wheat with a mortar. The rooster said to the woman: "Take my wheat and grind it with yours."
The woman took the wheat, put it in the mill, and thanked the rooster profusely. The rooster left and returned a short while later and said to the woman, "Give me my wheat." The woman was surprised and said, "You gave it to me, and I ground it with mine."

The rooster said, "
" I am the rooster who crows. "
" I went out to the threshing floor. "
" I searched and searched. "
" I found a grain of wheat. "
" And the grain of wheat was in a handful of flour.

The woman scooped up a handful of flour with her hands and gave it to the rooster. The rooster took it and continued on his way, walking and walking until he reached the baker. The rooster said, "Good morning, baker! Take this handful of flour."The baker took the flour and thanked the rooster. The rooster left and returned a little later to the baker and said, "I want my flour, baker." The baker said, "I mixed your flour with mine and baked it, so how can I give you your flour?" The rooster said, "
" I am the rooster who crows, "
" I went out to the threshing floor, "
" I searched and searched, "
" I found a grain of wheat, "
" and the grain of wheat was in a handful of flour, "
" and the handful of flour was in a loaf of bread. "
" The baker gave the loaf to the rooster, and the rooster took the loaf and continued on his way, walking and walking until he found some farmers gathering green onions and tying them into small bundles. The rooster said, "Peace be upon you, O people of the onion field."
The people of the field replied, "Peace be upon you, O loud rooster." The rooster said, "Take the loaf."
The field workers thanked the rooster. The rooster pretended to walk away from them and watched them. When he was sure that they had eaten the loaf, he returned and said, "I have come to take my loaf." The field workers were surprised and said in one voice, "
The rooster said, "
" I am the rooster who crows.
I went out to the threshing floor.
I searched and searched.
I found a grain of wheat.
The grain of wheat was in a handful of flour.
The handful of flour was in a loaf of bread.
The loaf of bread was in a bundle of onions.
The field owners gave the rooster a bundle of onions. The rooster walked and walked and walked until he came to some women filling small jars with honey. The rooster said, "Take the bunch of onions." They took it and thanked the rooster. The rooster watched them without them seeing him, and when they had finished eating the bunch of onions, he returned and said, "I want the bunch of onions." The women said, "But we ate it." The rooster said, "
" I am the rooster who crows. "
" I went out to the threshing floor. "
" I searched and searched. "
" I found a grain of wheat. "
" And the grain of wheat was in a handful of flour. "
" And the handful of flour was in a loaf of bread. "
" And the loaf of bread was in a bundle of onions. "
" And the bundle of onions was in a jar of honey.

The honey keepers gave him a small jar of honey, so he carried it and walked and walked and walked, until he came across a group of shepherds tending a flock of sheep. After greeting them, he said, "Take this jar of honey." The shepherds took the jar of honey, and the rooster walked away a little, then hid and watched them. When he was sure they had eaten the honey, he returned, swaying as he walked, and said, "I want my jar and my honey." The shepherds laughed and said, "You're joking, because you gave us the honey and we ate it." The rooster said: "
" I am the rooster
I went out to the threshing floor
I searched and searched
I found a grain of wheat
And the grain of wheat was in a handful of flour
And the handful of flour was in a loaf of bread
And the loaf of bread was in a bundle of onions

And the jar of honey with a goat. The shepherds looked at each other in amazement, clapped their hands, and gave the rooster a small goat. The rooster led the goat in front of him, and walked and walked and walked until he reached a group of people dancing and singing: "O sun, set from the sky to the earth, for we have a groom," and they ululated with joy. The rooster asked one of the participants: "What is all this commotion?" The man replied that it was a wedding party, and that this was the Palestinian way of sharing the groom's joy. The rooster went to the groom's mother and said to her: "Take this little goat." The groom's mother thanked the rooster profusely, and the rooster went and hid behind a tree and watched them from afar. After making sure that they had eaten the little goat, he returned to them and said, "I want my little goat that I left with you." They were very surprised and said, "We ate it and fed it to our visitors..." The rooster began to cry and shout, and they were very confused. Then the rooster said, " " I am the rooster who crows. " " I went out to the threshing floor. " " I searched and searched. " " I found a grain of wheat. " " The grain of wheat was in a handful of flour. " " The handful of flour was in a loaf of bread. " " The loaf of bread was in a bundle of onions. " " The bundle of onions was in a jar of honey. " " The jar of honey was in a sheep. " " The sheep was in a cow.

The groom's family gave the rooster the cow out of fear of scandal. The rooster took the cow and walked and walked until he found a large crowd of people singing, "Our sweet bride, our sweet Nisani," dancing and ululating. The rooster asked one of the people standing there, "What's going on?" The man said, "This is the bride's party, as you can see." The rooster stepped forward and said to the bride's mother, "Take my buffalo."
The bride's mother was delighted and thanked the rooster and tried to keep him with them, but the rooster apologized and walked away a little. When he was sure they had finished eating the buffalo, he returned to say, "I want my buffalo." The bride's mother said, "We had a feast and ate it." The rooster began to cry and scream and throw himself on the ground, crying and screaming, "I left my buffalo with you not to eat it, but to keep it for me." The bride's family said, "What can we do now that we have eaten it?" The rooster said: "
" I am the rooster who crows. "
" I went out to the threshing floor. "
" I searched and searched. "
" I found a grain of wheat. "
" The grain of wheat was in a handful of flour. "
" The handful of flour was in a loaf of bread. "
" The loaf of bread was in a bundle of onions. "
" The bundle of onions was in a jar of honey. "
" The jar of honey was in a sheep. "
" The sheep was in a cow. "
" The cow was in the bride's crown.

The wedding guests gave the bride's crown to the rooster... The rooster took the crown and was very happy because he got the bride's crown in exchange for the grain of wheat he found in the threshing floor. He continued on his way, crowing and singing, "Where is God, where is God..."
Since then, all roosters in the world (not just in Palestine) have had a red comb on their heads.