Long ago the cock had a pair of
beautiful horns on his head. But at that time there was a dragon that was
prevented from ascending into heaven because he lacked a pair of horns. And so
he offered the millipede as a guarantor, and borrowed the horns from the cock!
When the millipede came for the horns,
he said to the cock: "When you want your horns back, you must call out at
dawn: 'Give me back my horns!' and they will be returned to you at once. You
need have no occasion to be concerned in the least."
The kind cock knew how difficult it
was to ascend to heaven, so, reassured by the good security the millipede
offered, he loaned his horns without hesitation, just twisting them right off
his head. He also thought to himself that when the dragon returned from his
visit to heaven, they could sit down and have a good conversation; he would ask
the dragon to tell him how things were in heaven, and if it really was
beautiful there, as he had always heard. If it was true, he might consider
going there himself someday, he thought.
The next morning at daybreak (for the
dragon's visit was scheduled to be brief), the cock called out loudly:
"Give me back my horns!" But, even though he repeated this demand ten
times over, there was no sign at all of either the dragon or the horns.
Worried, the cock promptly went off to complain to the millipede, which soothed
him, saying: "If the dragon has not returned the horns this morning, then
he will certainly do so tomorrow. At the very latest, the day after that. Just
learn to be a little patient and your horns will soon be back on your head,
just as before."
The cock did wait several days, but
although he called out every morning at sunrise: "Give me back my
horns!" They never did reappear. The cock was extremely annoyed at this
deception and loss, as you can well imagine, therefore he ordered all the
members of his family to eat millipedes on sight.
Even so, the cock has not yet given up
hope of getting his horns returned. He ordered his descendants always to call
out at the break of day: "Give me back my horns!" He still hopes that
the dragon may hear him!
source: BSE; XI grade
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