The Day the Rooster Overslept

In the village of Sonpur lived a rooster named Sardar. Every morning at five he flew up to the roof of the milk shed and crowed: "KUKDOO-KOOO!"

And every morning the village grumbled.

"That noisy bird," said the baker, pulling a pillow over his head. "Somebody should buy him a muffler," said the schoolteacher. The children threw a slipper in his direction, and missed.

Sardar heard it all. One night he said to the hens, "Nobody likes my crowing. Tomorrow I am going to sleep late." And he tucked his head under his wing.

The next morning Sonpur was wonderfully quiet.

The baker slept until eight. There was no bread. The milkman slept until nine. There was no milk, and so there was no tea, and so nobody could think clearly. The schoolteacher woke at ten, ran to school in her house slippers, and found that the children had not come either. The bus driver was still snoring, and three people missed a wedding.

By noon the whole village stood in front of the milk shed, hungry, tea-less and cross.

Sardar strolled out, stretched and yawned. "Good morning," he said. "Did everyone sleep well?"

There was a long silence.

The baker took off his cap. "Sardar ji," he said, "it seems we owe you an apology."

The next morning at five, Sardar flew up to the roof. "KUKDOO-KOOO!"

In every house people groaned and sat up. But this time the baker called out of his window, "Thank you, Sardar ji!" And the children left a handful of grain by the shed.

The slipper was never thrown again.