The Unruly Bird
Indian Epics Stories
The Unruly Bird
If you would like to experience this story with Buddhist chants, click the video below:
There once were two cocks, one older than the other, born near a school for young brahmins. The Bodhisattva was the master of this school and he had five hundred disciples. The older of these cocks had been taken by the school as a chick. He grew up with the brahmins and was taught how to crow only in the morning so that the young boys knew when to wake for their studies. This cock had learned quickly and pleased both the Bodhisattva and all of the disciples.
The cock who lived with the young boys was great friends with the other young cock who lived on the outskirts of the school. When the trained cock was not on duty, he would go talk to his friend. He often tried to persuade the young cock to learn the art of crowing so that he too could one day please the brahmins. “Young friend,” said the aged cock, “you must let me teach you how to crow properly so that the Bodhisattva will take you into his school when I am gone. I am old and will not live forever. Learn now so that you have no need to struggle later on.”
“Good companion, you always worry too much,” the younger cock assured him. “If there ever comes a time for me to go to the school, I am sure that I will learn quickly enough. I may not have been raised by the brahmins since I was a chick as you were, but I am also a quick learner.”
The old cock did not believe what his friend was telling him. “You are good at many things, young one, but you are also so very stubborn. You may know how to crow loudly, but you have never been good at following directions. I am afraid that this will get you into trouble.” The young cock was not worried one bit and continued to refuse the older cock’s offer of crowing lessons.
Surely enough, the older of the cocks became ill and had a difficult time performing his daily task of crowing to wake the boys. He asked his young friend once more if he would learn the skill of crowing, but he refused. “I am thankful for our many years of friendship, good companion. Nevertheless, I think you worry too much. You should focus on your health before you worry about me, for I am young and strong and not worried about myself one bit.”
The mature bird lived for a few more weeks and eventually succumbed to his illness. The brahmins found the younger cock on the edge of the yard and took him into the school. “I will not mess this up. I know I can perform my duty well,” the cock assured himself.
The next morning, the youthful cock crowed at the time he thought the young boys should wake, but it was too early. The young boys were already displeased by the cock’s performance. “Okay, I shall make sure to crow later tomorrow.”
The day after, the cock crowed at the right time. “Today shall be a good day, for I have crowed on time and the young brahmins are pleased with me!”
However, it proved to be not only a bad day for the young cock, but a bad week. He seemed to crow for various reasons and he did not comprehend how much this irked the young boys. He would crow in excitement when he was fed or in sorrow when he remembered his old friend.
“Bodhisattva,” said one young brahmin to his master, “the young cock does not understand his task. He is only to crow in the morning so that we may know that it is time to study, but he crows all the time. I heard him crowing in the middle of the night! He is a much slower learned than the old cock. Perhaps he is not trainable since we did not take him as a chick.” The Bodhisattva nodded in comprehension.
The young brahmin who had brought the issue to the Bodhisattva decided to give the young bird two more weeks to learn his duties. “I cannot mess this up!” cried the young cock. “They are so displeased with me. I should have listened to my old friend. How silly I have been!”
The bird tried his best over the next two weeks to learn his duty properly. He was doing quite well until he caught his feather on an object and cried out in pain. He made so much noise that when he calmed down he lamented, “I have made another mistake!”
The young brahmin placed in charge of the young cock reported the noise offense to the Bodhisattva who nodded his head in comprehension. Hearing the footsteps of the brahmin coming closer and closer to his pen, the young cock guessed what was coming next. He cried to himself, "This shall be the end of me. I should never have refused my good old friend's advice." The brahmin entered the coop, plucked the bird out of his pen, and wrung his neck.
Author's Note: I created this story from both of the “Unruly Monk” stories by Robert Chalmers in the Epics of India anthology. The young cock in my story is similar to the young deer in The Self-Willed Deer. In The Self-Willed Deer, a young deer refuses the advice of an older deer, and ends up getting killed because of it. Both of these characters have the opportunity to learn and grow as individuals, which would ensure their safety, respectively, but both refuse. Refusing to educate themselves or take advice from other animals who are wiser than them leads to the downfall of both the self-willed deer and the unruly cock. The basic structure and characters in my story have come from the story Noisy Out of Season. Both of the anthology stories were very short and did not provide much context or dialogue, much like Aesop’s fables. I have greatly expanded on length and detail in my tale, such as all of the cocks' dialogue and making the story from the perspective of the cocks. I think that, in general, stories with more context and greater detail helps the reader create a picture in their mind of the setting, and makes the story more relatable. The moral of my story is that one should never refuse the opportunity to grow, as this will cause problems for them in the future. I believe the morals of the original stories were that ignoring useful advice is simply foolish. For the unruly cock, he realized his mistake of not listening and scrambled to try and fix it, but it was too late.
Chalmers, Robert. The Jataka: Volume 1. Link
The Unruly Bird
If you would like to experience this story with Buddhist chants, click the video below:
There once were two cocks, one older than the other, born near a school for young brahmins. The Bodhisattva was the master of this school and he had five hundred disciples. The older of these cocks had been taken by the school as a chick. He grew up with the brahmins and was taught how to crow only in the morning so that the young boys knew when to wake for their studies. This cock had learned quickly and pleased both the Bodhisattva and all of the disciples.
The cock who lived with the young boys was great friends with the other young cock who lived on the outskirts of the school. When the trained cock was not on duty, he would go talk to his friend. He often tried to persuade the young cock to learn the art of crowing so that he too could one day please the brahmins. “Young friend,” said the aged cock, “you must let me teach you how to crow properly so that the Bodhisattva will take you into his school when I am gone. I am old and will not live forever. Learn now so that you have no need to struggle later on.”
“Good companion, you always worry too much,” the younger cock assured him. “If there ever comes a time for me to go to the school, I am sure that I will learn quickly enough. I may not have been raised by the brahmins since I was a chick as you were, but I am also a quick learner.”
The old cock did not believe what his friend was telling him. “You are good at many things, young one, but you are also so very stubborn. You may know how to crow loudly, but you have never been good at following directions. I am afraid that this will get you into trouble.” The young cock was not worried one bit and continued to refuse the older cock’s offer of crowing lessons.
Surely enough, the older of the cocks became ill and had a difficult time performing his daily task of crowing to wake the boys. He asked his young friend once more if he would learn the skill of crowing, but he refused. “I am thankful for our many years of friendship, good companion. Nevertheless, I think you worry too much. You should focus on your health before you worry about me, for I am young and strong and not worried about myself one bit.”
The mature bird lived for a few more weeks and eventually succumbed to his illness. The brahmins found the younger cock on the edge of the yard and took him into the school. “I will not mess this up. I know I can perform my duty well,” the cock assured himself.
The next morning, the youthful cock crowed at the time he thought the young boys should wake, but it was too early. The young boys were already displeased by the cock’s performance. “Okay, I shall make sure to crow later tomorrow.”
The day after, the cock crowed at the right time. “Today shall be a good day, for I have crowed on time and the young brahmins are pleased with me!”
However, it proved to be not only a bad day for the young cock, but a bad week. He seemed to crow for various reasons and he did not comprehend how much this irked the young boys. He would crow in excitement when he was fed or in sorrow when he remembered his old friend.
“Bodhisattva,” said one young brahmin to his master, “the young cock does not understand his task. He is only to crow in the morning so that we may know that it is time to study, but he crows all the time. I heard him crowing in the middle of the night! He is a much slower learned than the old cock. Perhaps he is not trainable since we did not take him as a chick.” The Bodhisattva nodded in comprehension.
The young brahmin who had brought the issue to the Bodhisattva decided to give the young bird two more weeks to learn his duties. “I cannot mess this up!” cried the young cock. “They are so displeased with me. I should have listened to my old friend. How silly I have been!”
The bird tried his best over the next two weeks to learn his duty properly. He was doing quite well until he caught his feather on an object and cried out in pain. He made so much noise that when he calmed down he lamented, “I have made another mistake!”
The young brahmin placed in charge of the young cock reported the noise offense to the Bodhisattva who nodded his head in comprehension. Hearing the footsteps of the brahmin coming closer and closer to his pen, the young cock guessed what was coming next. He cried to himself, "This shall be the end of me. I should never have refused my good old friend's advice." The brahmin entered the coop, plucked the bird out of his pen, and wrung his neck.
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Author's Note: I created this story from both of the “Unruly Monk” stories by Robert Chalmers in the Epics of India anthology. The young cock in my story is similar to the young deer in The Self-Willed Deer. In The Self-Willed Deer, a young deer refuses the advice of an older deer, and ends up getting killed because of it. Both of these characters have the opportunity to learn and grow as individuals, which would ensure their safety, respectively, but both refuse. Refusing to educate themselves or take advice from other animals who are wiser than them leads to the downfall of both the self-willed deer and the unruly cock. The basic structure and characters in my story have come from the story Noisy Out of Season. Both of the anthology stories were very short and did not provide much context or dialogue, much like Aesop’s fables. I have greatly expanded on length and detail in my tale, such as all of the cocks' dialogue and making the story from the perspective of the cocks. I think that, in general, stories with more context and greater detail helps the reader create a picture in their mind of the setting, and makes the story more relatable. The moral of my story is that one should never refuse the opportunity to grow, as this will cause problems for them in the future. I believe the morals of the original stories were that ignoring useful advice is simply foolish. For the unruly cock, he realized his mistake of not listening and scrambled to try and fix it, but it was too late.
Chalmers, Robert. The Jataka: Volume 1. Link
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