Once, a hawk and a hen lived as neighbours in the jungle. The hawk daily saw the hen and followed her while going in search of grain. One day, the hawk collected all the courage and proposed the hen. He also gave her a ring and asked to marry her. Now, the hen had also agreed to marry a cock. When the cock saw her wearing the ring, he was angry. “I will kill you if you marry that hawk!” he shouted. Frightened, the hen immediately removed the ring and threw it away.
After a few days, when the hawk came to see his beloved, he saw that she was not wearing his ring. “Where is the ring?” he asked. She said, “A snake snatched it from me! I am still looking for it.” But the hawk knew that the hen was lying. He cursed her saying, “As a punishment for your deception, you shall keep scratching this earth till you find the ring.” Since that day on, hens have the habit of scratching the ground.
