Once upon a time there was a rooster who found himself to be the best looking rooster in the world. In fact he liked to think of himself as a roostar.
Not only did he admire his cockscomb, the colours and shine of his feathers, but he also loved his voice. His ‘cock-a-doodle-doo’ was the best sounding cock-a-doodle-doo ever.
He knew how to pronounce in it in English, but also mastered the French ‘cocorico’, the Dutch ‘kukeleku’ and the German sound of a rooster ‘kikeriki’.
The rooster lived in a coop with exactly eighteen hens. Eight of the hens were in love with the handsome rooster.and ten were not. As a result only the eggs of the first eight were fertilized and the others weren’t.
The rooster wasn’t happy with this. He was happy with his offspring, but wanted more. He did not understand why the other ten hens were not attracted to him.
One day after doing one of the best sounding cock-a-doodle-doo’s ever, he went to the pond and watched his reflection in the water. Still bothered with the ten hens that weren’t in love with him, he decided he needed to become even more beautiful. And better sounding.
That’s where he started. First he learned the Spanish Quiquiriquíííííííí, Czech kikirikí and kykyryký, the Italian chicchirichì, the Portuguese cocorococó and even the Japanese: コケコッコー(Kokekokkoo).
Then he started working on his appearance using pieces of cloth and paint and even tape. He brushed his comb by rubbing it in the damp grass, making it shinier than ever before.
After that he went back to the pond and was very satisfied. He decided to stride back to the chicken coop, making all his sounds, convinced all hens would fall for him immediately.
And they fell.
Well, three of them did. They were literally shocked to death. The other 15 were so nauseated by his appearance and sounds they ran away, never to return.
As it happened to be, 2 farms down the road, a very ugly rooster lived with no hens. His eyes almost popped out of his head when he saw the procession of 15 hens and he almost fainted when they asked if they could stay.
And the roostar? Well, he took a ‘sabbatical’, now works in a circus and is actually very happy.
The moral of course is that it is better to stay who you are and be happy with what you have.
The problem often is that because you are who you are, and know what you know, and do what you do, you can become either bored or under-(or not)-appreciated by yourself.
We’re somehow ‘programmed’ to constantly aspire change and forget to reflect on what we have and appreciate it or rediscover things we already had, but forgot. That way we can start to re-appreciate. Anyway, dressing up to look even better is bound for an over-the-top-statement.
So re-appreciate, or go work in a circus. That is all I have to say about it.
Rooster is part of the World of Beast-series and a fable.
The WEAST Perspective 