Roo was the loudest rooster on the farm. Every morning, he crowed proudly at sunrise. The problem was that Roo didn’t always wait for sunrise. Sometimes he crowed at midnight, sometimes at two in the morning, and sometimes every hour just to hear his own voice.
The farmer grew tired of being woken up night after night.
“One more sleepless week,” the farmer grumbled, “and I’ll have a headless cock on my hands.”
Roo overheard this and nearly swallowed a feather. The thought of becoming a headless cock terrified him.
That evening, Roo visited the old barn owl, who was famous for giving advice.
“How do I stop crowing in the middle of the night?” Roo asked.
The owl chuckled. “Simple. Before you crow, look for the sun. No sun, no crow.”
Roo decided to try it. The first night he woke up and felt a crow bubbling in his throat. He looked around. No sun. He went back to sleep.
The next night he did the same thing. No sun. Back to sleep.
Soon Roo had broken his habit. The farmer finally enjoyed peaceful nights, and the whole farm rested better.
One morning, as Roo crowed right on time at sunrise, the farmer smiled and tossed him an extra handful of corn.
“Good work, Roo,” he said. “You’ve saved yourself from becoming a headless cock.”
Roo puffed out his chest proudly. From that day on, he only crowed when the sun was up—and he lived a long, happy life with his head exactly where it belonged.
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