In a village outside Madrid, there was a hen house.
Inside it a hen laid an egg. There was something special about this egg. It was
flat on one side, quite unusual. And out of it came a chick, a very remarkable
chick. It had one leg, one eye, one wing, half of its comb and beak. So it was called
Medio Pollito, meaning half-chick.
Medio Pollito was not like other chicks, which
stayed close to their mother. He was eager to explore. The first time he saw a
road, he asked, “Where does it lead?”
“It goes to the city of Madrid,” explained the
mother.
“What’s there?” He enquired further.
“The king lives there,” continued mother.
“Who is he?”
“He rules over the Spanish lands.”
Medio Pollito with the tip of his wing touched his half
beak and pondered, “I wonder how he looks like and the city he lives in.”
The other animals in the barnyard heard about Medio
Pollito dream of going to Madrid and laughed at him.
Sad chick hid under his mother’s belly. The mother
tenderly brushed the chick’s head with her feathers and said, “Don’t worry what
other animals say. If you want to travel and you put your mind to it, then
nothing and nobody can stop you from achieving it.”
So Medio Pollito listened to his mother
encouragement and followed the road to Madrid.
When his throat got dry, he stopped to beak some
water from a stream. As he bend down, he heard, “Please help me, the weeds are
stopping my flow.”
The kind chick responded to the stream, “As soon as I
quench my thirst, I will pluck the weeds.”
He gulped the water, then plucked the weeds, “All
done.”
“Thank you for your kindness. If you are ever in
need, think of me,” said the stream.
Off he was, getting closer to the city. When Medio
Pollito passed by a campfire, he heard, “Please, help me. My dying fire needs
more wood.”
The half-chick thought that every time he stopped,
it was taking him longer to get to the city. But his good heart told him to
gather wood. So he did.
“Thank you for your kindness. If you are ever in
need, think of me,” said the fire.
Medio Pollito continued his adventure. When he
approached a hill, he stopped to gaze at the city spread in front of him. He
didn’t notice a chestnut tree next to him until he heard, “Please, help me. I
am tangled in those thick branches.” It was wind, which wanted to move on with
its journey as much as Medio Pollito.
Half-chick thought to himself since I am so close to
the city, I have time to reach it before it gets dark. He climbed into the tree
and freed the wind.
“Thank you for your kindness. If you are ever in
need, think of me,” said the wind.
The gates of the city were wide opened. Medio
Pollito wandered the streets. The busy pedestrians did not pay any attention to
Medio Pollito. It was dinner time. His belly growled. “What am I supposed to do
now?” worried he.
The royal cook noticed the half-chick and asked, “What
are you doing here in the city? Shouldn’t you be in the country?”
“I just came from the country to see the king,”
replied he.
“I must say it is your lucky day. I work in the king’s
kitchens. Why don’t I take you there,” suggested the cook.
“That would be splendid.” The good-natured chick
believed the cook, who had some other plans in mind.
At the palace, the cook put the chick into a pot and
said, “You need to take a bath before I can present you to the king. You are
all dusty from your travel.” That was quite true, so the chick believed the
cook.
After swimming in the pot for quite some time, Medio
Pollito said, “Cook, I am ready to come out and see the king.”
“You will see the king, when I serve you in a bowl
as he requested a chicken soup for his dinner,” snapped the cook slamming the
heavy lid to cover the pot.
Tears rolled down the chick’s cheek as the water was
getting hotter and it was getting more and more uncomfortable inside the pot. Then
he remembered the cool water of the stream.
Instantly he heard a voice, “Don’t be afraid. I will
keep the water at a comfortable temperature. Enjoy your swim.”
“Thank you for your quick help,” said the chick. But
he still worried how the stream would be able to keep the water cool if the
fire was hissing under the pot.
Immediately, he heard another voice, “Don’t worry. I
will sizzle and smoke, but not heat. So the water will stay as it is.”
“Thank you for putting my mind at ease.” As soon he
said his last words to the fire, the cook appeared.
He was quite annoyed with the smoke in the kitchen.
He lifted the lid, “Why is the water warm instead of hot.”
A head appeared above the water and retorted
quickly, “Can I see the king now?”
The angry cook plucked the chick by his comb with
the tips of his fingers and threw him out the window, “Find your own way to the
king.”
Medio Pollito wandered the streets again. He was
cold and hungry. He thought of his mother and hen house and wanted to be back
there with the wind’s speed.
At that moment, the wind appeared, “Are you giving
up so quickly? Where is your spirit of adventure?” When the resigned chick didn’t
respond, the wind suggested, “Why don’t I show you the city? If you don’t like
it, then I’ll take you home.”
Medio Pollito agreed.
The wind took him to the highest place in the city,
which was the cathedral’s spire. The wind perched the chick at the tip of the spire
and said, “Look around. What do you think?”
The chick looked around and saw the red roofs of
beautiful buildings, squares filled with colorful markets and the cobbled streets
winding among them. “It’s the most amazing view I’ve ever seen. I could stay
here forever.”
“Stay as long as you wish,” replied the wind.
So the half-chick did. And he stands there to this
day. As the wind blows, the chick turns in the same direction, showing the
people below which way the wind is blowing.
Source: Medio Pollito by Eric A. Kimmel.
Note: Iberian Peninsula is home to three countries,
including Andorra in the Pyrenees Mountains (north) and to a state of Gibraltar
(British governed territory) at the southern end of the peninsula.
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