ALLEGORY
The Rooster and His Voice
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FIONA POTH
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The early morning sun is rising as Rusty the Rooster announces loudly, “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” The other farm animals slowly awaken from a night of peaceful rest. Rusty had belted this message early each morning for more years than he could count on his toes. All the farm animals relied on Rusty’s calls to wake them each morning. Rusty also used his familiar call to let the other animals know when Ash the fox was approaching.
But Rusty was tired of crowing. His throat felt scratchy. And he felt unappreciated. At the same time, Rusty took pride in being the announcer for the farmyard.
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Rusty, a rooster of limited mental powers, mulled over other ways in which he might communicate and make his pronouncements for several days. And then on the third day, Rusty had an idea. He could write messages with his toes in the loose farmyard dirt.
Writing entire words posed some problems for Rusty. It would be time consuming. He speculated that it could be trying. And, finally, his spelling was not perfect. Then, Rusty thought to himself I can simply write a few capital letters to express what I am thinking. Pleased with this new plan, Rusty went to bed determined to try it out the next day.
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The next morning, as the sun rose in the east, Rusty did not make a sound. Instead, he scratched out “SU” for “sun up.” He felt so satisfied with himself and so modern with his new method of communicating. It was succinct, and he did not have to interact with any of the other animals.
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But this scratched message went unnoticed by the sleeping hens. Eventually, however, the rays of the rising sun streamed through the hen house windows, waking the hens almost as effectively as Rusty’s “cock-a-doodle-doo.”
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When the hens walked out of the hen house into the yard, Rusty was convinced that his new message system was working as planned. He puffed his chest out and strutted about the farmyard feeling clever and victorious.
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The hens noticed Rusty’s scratched message but were not sure what to make of it. Several were convinced that the “S” was a number “5.” But wondered five what? Others were sure it was an “S” but couldn’t decide what it meant, and the second letter looked like a “U.” One hen suggested it was “just a mistake.” Finally, the oldest hen proclaimed, “’SU’ stands for ‘Shut up.’ Folks must be tired of hearing us cluck all day. We had better be quiet today.” The other hens were not sure but did not want to argue with her, so they all went quietly about their business in the farmyard that day.
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Ash the fox saw Rusty strutting about and the hens being quiet and came up to the farmyard fence to investigate. “What have you done this morning, Rusty?” he asked.
“I have invented a much better way to communicate,” replied the rooster proudly. “I do not have to cock-a-doodle-doo anymore. Instead, I can simply write abbreviations in the dirt that work just as well.”
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The fox thought for a moment and smiled. He told Rusty that he was a very clever Rooster and definitely should not cock-a-doodle-doo anymore. What a waste of energy! And his efforts were never truly appreciated.
Rusty felt encouraged by Ash and even more determined to communicate in his modern way.
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That evening at dusk, Ash the fox came back and snuck under the farmyard fence. He wanted to take advantage of Rusty’s new communication system. Rusty saw Ash enter the yard; but instead of flapping his wings and issuing a shrill “cock-a-doodle-doo,” he scratched in the dirt the letters “FIY“ for “Fox in Yard.”
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Although Rusty was pleased with the simplicity of this message, it was not affective. Most of the hens did not see it, and those who did see it did not understand it, thus giving Ash plenty of time to catch a fat hen and escape before anyone had noticed.
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Moral: Use your voice. Interact.