Three animal friends who lived on a farm wanted to explore the world. They decided one day to just leave and see where the road takes them. The three friends consisted of a dog, a mouse, and a cock. The dog was really big. The mouse was really small. And the cock was a mix of both. They traveled and traveled without a final destination in mind.
As the day was coming to an end, darkness was taking over the sky and the moon was starting to peek through the small clouds. The three friends came across a forest and were wanting to rest for the night as they were very tired. The dog and the mouse asked the cock to look for a good place to sleep as the cock was really good at moving from tree branches to tree branches very quickly. The cock found a place where all three of them can sleep peacefully and safely for the night. The tree consisted of many branches and a door shaped hollow trunk. The cock slept in one of the branches and the dog and the mouse slept in the trunk of the tree.
As the moon was dropping into the other side of the planet, the sun was starting to peek through. At the slightest sight of light, the cock awakened. He started crowing as loud as possible because that was his daily routine. In doing this, he woke up the dog, the mouse, and a fox who was sleeping nearby. The fox was very angry to be awakened, but calmed down and was very happy at the sight of the cock. He ate a very full meal the night before, but he was hungry as soon as he saw the cock standing on the branch. He started approaching the cock and started a conversation with him:
“Good morning to you kind sir. I am very happy you woke me up as I have some very important things I have to do. Say, I have not seen you around here before; are you new here?”
The cock met some foxes before on the farm and he knew all of them are very cunning and willing to do anything for a meal. So he knew this conversation must be leading to the fox trying to eat him. He decided to converse back and see where it leads:
“Good morning to you too sir. You are quite welcome. To answer your question: yes, I am new here.”
Hearing this, the fox instantly decided to work his plan and claim his breakfast:
“Alright then. Why don’t you come down and I will show you around this place!!”
“Sounds great,” exclaimed the cock knowing this is the fox’s plan. “I am coming down through the other side of the tree. Why don’t you go around?”
“Okay,” said the happy fox.
While going to the other side, the fox saw the mouse, who came outside after waking up. Seeing the mouse, the fox got hungrier. He chased the mouse for a little bit but decided to stop because he had a bigger meal awaiting. He returned to the other side of the tree. By now, the cock had gotten into the hollow trunk of the tree. From inside the cock yelled:
“Hey Mr. Fox, come towards this way.”
The fox happily stepped towards the trunk of the tree. Just as he was about to get in, the dog jumped onto the fox. The dog towered over the fox as he was very angry. With just a few hits, the dog subdued the fox.
After this incident, the three kept moving for more adventures. They faced more obstacles on their journey, but they kept going. Along the way, they met others who were also out to see the world. This made them instant friends. They don’t fear anything anymore as their pack now consists of: 5 dogs, 3 chickens, 1 cock, 4 mice, and 2 rabbits.
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| Picture of the tree where my version of the story occurred. Taken by Dab Bartek. Source: Wikipedia. |
Author’s Note. This story is based on the fable “The Dog, The Cock, And The Fox" found at the Aesop for Children book. This book was illustrated by Milo Winter (1919). The story provides two lessons: deceiving can lead to the destruction of one’s own self and greed is a bad thing. If the fox had not deceived the cock or if he was satisfied with the mouse (which he didn’t go after due to greed), he wouldn’t have been attacked by the dog. The original version consisted of the dog, the cock, and the fox. The dog and the cock was looking for an adventure; they sleep in a tree for the night; and then the fox comes due to the crowing of the cock and tries to deceive the cock; finally, the dog attacks the fox. I have added the mouse character and the second lesson in the story. The conversation they have are different and longer. In the end, I also added a happy ending for the three characters: roaming free and seeing the world with other animals.
Bibliography: "The Dog, The Cock, And The Fox" by Milo Winter, from The Aesop for Children (1919). Web Source: Gutenberg Files.
I like that you gave your story a happy ending and that no animals got killed because most stories with a moral end unhappily. This story is definitely one of the lighter ones, which was nice. Your layout of the setting and physical characteristics of each character was detailed, which helped me create a better mental image of them the setting. I also enjoyed that you added a mouse to the story, which helped you add another lesson to the story instead of just the one about deception.
ReplyDeleteI actually considered writing over this story before I changed my mind! I like how you changed the story and added to it. Like Michelle, I really liked how it was more light-hearted than most of the Aesop fables. The happy ending was great. I especially liked that you had the friends meeting other animals exploring the world. The fact that these animals created a pack was great. I think it made the story have more of an impact.
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