TheCockAndTheBullStory Veeraswamy Krishnaraj

TheCockAndTheBullStory 1. ‘The Welcome Farm’ was a large estate in a remote village in the South India adjoining a forest, where wild animals roamed free and sometimes came to the village to steal domestic livestock from the farm. The farm owner was at his wit’s end to prevent lions, tigers, jackals and other carnivores from loitering into his farm, kill the livestock, eat them and take some of them into the forest. A farmhand named Muttal, suggested to the owner that changing the name to ‘The Unwelcome Farm’ might dissuade the animals from visiting the farm. The owner shot down the suggestion. 2. One day a lion came into the farm, ate the goat, left the skin and bones, and retreated into the forest. Half the goats became the dinner for lions and tigers. The owner could not stomach the losses. 3. The owner built a seven-foot brick wall with a zigzag entrance and exit, which could be widened or narrowed to facilitate or restrict movement of the cattle at the entrance or exit. He also deployed angry bulls with long sharp horns and fidgety fighting cocks which poked the intruding animals in the anus or the eyes. 4. He also changed the name of the farm to ‘The Cock and The Bull Farm.’ 5. A lion wandered into the zigzag entrance; the passageway’s mobile sidewalls automatically closed in, trapping the tiger. The cock gave out the cock-a-doodle-doos, the goat bleated, the monkey on the perimeter wall howled, the owl hooted, the hawk screeched. 6. The owner heard the cries of the animals and birds, rushed to the entrance and saw the  trapped tiger. An idea popped into his head: Why not employ the animals and birds to forewarn and attack the carnivores? The farm workers tranquilized the tiger, bagged it in a net, and let it free in the forest. 7. He trained the hawk to fly over the canopy and the open spaces of the forest, to monitor the movement of the carnivores, fly to the owner and or the farmhands to inform them of the impending arrival of the carnivores to the farm. They fed the hawk its daily feed of mice, rats and rabbits. 8. The monkey, because of its agility and superb climbing qualities, had a free access to the farm and the forest. The monkey worked for bananas and other fruits. 9. Now the cock and the Bull. This cock had been a veteran cock fighter in the village cock fights. Now its abilities were directed to wild animals. The cock was trained to poke the wild animals on their sensitive parts of the body, fly off their back, land on them and harass them to no end. It was fed grains regularly. 10. Now the bull. This is no ordinary bull. It was a longhorn. With its long and sharp horns, it was known to have gored a lion to death. The proof was that the owner had the lion’s skin and head as trophy mounted on the wall in his house. 11. The cock harassed the wild animals and the bull charged towards them fearlessly; that was a perfect combination to discourage the carnivores to go to the farm. The monkey was a willing participant in harassing the carnivores. 12. With his arrangement the owner and the farm animals prospered. He never killed any of the farm animals. The hen laid the eggs and died of old age. The goats gave milk and died of old age. The cows yielded milk and died of old age. 13. Now you know why this story goes by the name ‘The Cock and the Bull Story.’