The Chicken Story

There was once a strong and famous rooster who’s the king of a small colony of birds in a farm. In that farm stood a tall tree, akin to the grand palace of the animal kingdom. Each day His Majesty, the rooster, would rest on the highest branch of the grand palace, overlooking his subjects, feeling full of himself.

As the population grew, however, the rooster realised that there were many young roosters eyeing his throne atop the majestic tree; and this made him a little uneasy. Every now and then His Majesty would be challenged to a duel, but he’d always win. Nevertheless, as time passed his duels were becoming increasingly harder to win. He was getting older and weaker, and he knew that his days as the monarch were numbered.

This did not accord well with his pride, having been the king for such a long time. One way or another, he must defend his throne. So he summoned an elderly rooster in the colony, who’s been his loyal adviser for some years, for a meeting at the chamber near the bottom of the tree. The wise old rooster approached with caution, knowing that His Majesty had a temper issue.

His Majesty went straight to the point, “This lately, I’m sensing an impending end of  my reign,” he said, “and as I’m getting old and weak, apparently there isn’t much that I can do about it. Can you think of something to solve the problem?”

As the old wise rooster began flipping through the pages of the Book of Wisdom to find a solution, a naughty young rooster of the lower caste managed to sneak pass the guards of the grand palace somehow, making his way to the top of the tree. Upon reaching that highest branch, he declared his achievement by crowing at the top of his voice. And then there was a deafening silence. Everyone was shocked.

Looking up the tree, His Majesty was fuming mad; his face turning black, and steams were seen blowing from the top of his head.

“Who is that idiot?”, demanded His Majesty, his voice breaking the silence like thunder, “How dare he sits on my throne; is he tired of living? Listen up! If any of you can go up there and break his leg for everyone to see, I will reward you with the title of General of Grand Army of the Flock!”

“But Your Majesty,” said the wise adviser as he was picking up his jaw from the ground, “You can’t solve your problems by just making that kind of offer without following proper procedures! We have laws of the land to uphold!”

“Procedures? Laws?”, replied His Majesty, “So what about procedures and laws; why should I care about those? If they can make such an offer, I sure as hell can make this offer too!"