In a farm a cucumber grew in the vegetable patch. It watched the farmyard cockerel and the weathercock and compared them.
“I wonder which of them is more useful,” the cucumber wondered, “The weathercock tells us about the wind and that’s of great use to the farmer. But the cockerel sings out so beautifully every morning to wake everyone up. The weathercock just sits there silently! He hasn’t even got a single hen or chick.” So, it decided that the cockerel was more useful, after all.
That night, a terrible storm broke out. Rain poured down and the wind howled around the farm. The birds curled up inside their shelters and waited for it to blow over.
Only the weathercock stood firm and brave on the farmhouse roof. He had been on the rooftop for years now and was so old and rusted that he could not turn with the wind any more.
The next day dawned bright and sunny. The sky was filled with music as birds flitted and flew around. The birds and the animals on the farm also came out of their shelters out of curiosity.
The weathercock stood on the rooftop and looked in a very superior way at all the birds. He criticised the fat pigeons who did nothing but eat, the busy swallows who chattered and gossiped, and the thrushes who sang constantly.
And then he saw the cockerel strutting out, followed by the hens and the chicks. He crowed at the top of his voice and showed off his beautiful feathers and crown to the hens. He was extremely proud of the chicks that were learning to peck.
“I wonder why the cockerel is preening in the yard,” thought the weathercock, “The poor fellow can’t even lay an egg!”
But a sudden gust of wind made the weathercock snap and crash down! The rust had eaten into his base and could not hold out against the wind any longer. So, there he lay amid the hens and the chicks as they scratched and pecked around him.
The cucumber watched and sighed, “If you are worn out, you can’t be of any use to anyone. As I thought, the cockerel is more useful, after all.”
