Chapter 1. Our story begins with a baby bird." "A baby bird whose parents had long ago gone missing." "The baby bird's uncle had been watching over the orphan for some time, but had grown ill and was now passing on." "His uncle had grown so ill that he could no longer carry out his daily duties, and had finally fallen asleep one day at his post." "At that moment, there was a terrible storm." "How terrible?" "When you fall asleep, how do you wake up?" "On account of the storm, the baby bird's uncle woke up before his shift was over, got into his basket, and was just about to set out to find his uncle, when he heard his name called out from inside the basket." "It's me." "What a surprise." "We weren't expecting you." "I've been in the country." "The roads were awful." "I was about to leave, but then I saw you." "This was the last piece I had to make." "I see." "Here, I've finished my work." "I'm done." "I can't go any farther." "I'll get the basket." "Thank you." "You're welcome." "I'm so glad you're home." "Thank you for staying with me." "Thank you for coming." "I'm happy to see you." "It's been hard." "It's been such a long time." "The orphan was reunited with his uncle and grew to maturity." "He did as told and grew beautiful and elegant feathers, as should every chicken." "But as is always the case, the world can be unfair, and this is where the story begins, where the chicken meets a fox." "One day, the chicken met a fox." "She took the fox in her path and invited him to a small dinner with her relatives that very evening." "And that night, the fox went along with the chicken to her home and was treated with the finest food and drink." "There were many kinds of treats." "The best part was still to come." "Suddenly, the chicken said to the fox," ""Can you come to the henhouse with me?"" "The chicken is a smart one." "The fox went along." "And with the fox in tow, the chicken led him to the henhouse and left him." "Let's go." "I think we should give them a head start." "Where?" "Into the woods." "If we can't catch them, we have to lose them." "Let's go." "What should I do?" "You mustn't be frightened." "I'm not afraid." "Hold on tight." "I will." "Let's go." "The fox followed the chicken into the woods." "Just like I followed the chicken to get her to see my love for her, the fox too followed the chicken to win her heart." "You really do love her, don't you?" "Just as I have loved her since the day I first saw her." "I'm sorry." "She didn't invite me." "I was only joking." "I'm the one who should apologize." "I was only joking, too." "Then you don't love me." "Who said I don't love you?" "If you love me, you should invite me in." "How can you say I don't love you?" "You've come all this way with me, you should let me be the one to go in first." "Goodness, it's already so late." "If we don't go to sleep now, we'll never be able to wake up." "There." "Thank you for a great evening." "There, there." "I'm fine now." "It was just a little scare, so don't worry." "Where are you going?" "To look after the chicken." "Take care of her." "Will you sleep well?" "Who knew the chicken could be so much fun." "She's a lively little bird." "You should have slept with me." "It would have been so cozy, instead of sleeping alone in the woods." "If only the chicken knew..." "Then I would have to stay." "But they say that if someone sees you, it's bad luck." "Let's go." "Come on, come on." "One day the fox said to the chicken," ""Don't ever let your feathers down again."" "If the fox takes one more step forward, the fox will be mine." "Get a good night's rest." "Tomorrow we'll go home." "It was already so late, so I invited the fox home to spend the night." "We'll be right back, chicken." "Now get some sleep." "Thank you." "We had a great day, didn't we?" "I enjoyed your company." "I was talking too much." "You must be tired." "You go on to sleep." "I'll take care of the chicken." "You have nothing to worry about." "I said I would take care of her." "As always, the fox was careful not to make a sound." "So that the chicken would fall into a deep, deep sleep." "I don't want to play." "Please." "Okay, okay." "What a day." "Here." "Thanks." "What is it?" "I can't tell you." "Just a bit." "Let's see." "Hey, hey, hey." "Where did you get that?" "You stole it?" "Hey, don't just stand there, eat." "Go on." "I have something for you." "Thank you." "There." "You're a good girl." "You will be fine." "Good night." "I'm sorry." "We can't let that happen again." "Wait, what are you going to do?" "The chicken's all yours." "What?" "How could I do something so terrible?" "It's a baby." "Isn't that exactly what we were talking about the other day?" "So you don't mind a baby in the henhouse." "That is, if it's yours?" "Of course." "What are you doing?" "I want to make it the chicken's." "Let me." "This is going to be a fun morning." "I'm sure it will." "Get to work." "Let's move out." "Hey." "Did you hear that?" "What?" "I don't know." "A strange sound." "Really?" "I'm not sure." "Are you hurt?" "I'm all right." "It came from over there." "What should I do?" "I can't stop it." "Hurry." "My, oh my." "What is that?" "You caught an arm?" "A fox." "That's right, a fox." "A fox, a fox." "Where's the fox?" "I don't know." "Did you run off with it?" "I'm sorry." "I thought you were an animal." "Please forgive me." "Sorry." "Sorry." "Please." "What a strange chicken." "I'm so sorry." "I never knew." "She must have just been going about her business." "There's nothing for you to be sorry for." "I still think you should have made up a different story." "But everything did happen as I said it did." "That's true." "I can tell by your expression." "What?" "I've just been thinking." "That chicken of yours is awfully smart." "She's just like us." "We make mistakes." "Even when there's no reason for it." "Are you telling me you believe the story?" "The fox was a fake." "I don't believe any of it." "Sorry, I can't go along with it." "You're quite right." "It is our story, after all." "I'm going back to the house." "Let's go, brother." "You just don't get it, do you?" "You have a friend here." "This is a friend?" "Don't tell me you have that baby chick somewhere in your heart." "If you have a heart, it should be full of goodness, not evil." "You are that chicken." "But I'm different from that chicken." "Why would I want to eat something I have nothing against?" "That was the question." "Why would a kind-hearted chicken want to eat a fox?" "To which even the chicken of the farm had no answer." "Because she felt sorry for me and wanted to make sure I was safe." "So the fox, unable to come up with a good excuse, ate the chicken instead." "And she asked the fox if she had eaten anything." "The fox said, "No."" "The chicken said," ""You have to eat something." ""If you don't eat anything, you'll die of hunger."" "So the fox finally ate her, which was the only way the chicken could make sure she was safe." "Once more, she felt sorry for the fox." "Her heart was still good." "I did well, didn't I?" "I'm just glad that chicken had a kind-hearted heart, right?" "And we were able to be friends." "Of course you did." "The story was so good." "I wish you well, too." "Thank you for your kindness." "I don't think I'm going to see you again." "I know." "You'd better go." "Even though we are friends, you're still a chicken." "I just wish