The Rooster and the Pearl : (A Fable of Aesop Retold by Barleycorn)

One day, a rooster was strutting in the barnyard when he spied a shiny object in a heap of straw.

He picked it up and said, “What is this?”

A swine replied, “It is a pearl. Throw it in the mud. It has no use.”

“Aye”, said the rooster throwing the pearl over his shoulder, ”I would rather have a single barleycorn than all the pearls in the world.”

Morals:

To each his own.

Don’t leave your pearls among barnyard animals.

“He that’s industrious in an honest calling, shall never fail of a blessing. It is the part of a wise man to prefer things necessary before matters of curiosity, ornament, or pleasure.” (Townsend)

“If he asks bread, will ye give him a stone?” (Crane Poetry Visual)