Sonnettics

Once there was a farmer who lived at the edge of a quiet village. Every morning, he woke with the dawn to tend to his fields, his chickens, and his crops. His most faithful companion was his rooster, who crowed at the first light, signaling the start of the day.
One year, a traveler came to the village, bringing with him a wondrous invention—a mechanical rooster that crowed precisely at sunrise. Intrigued by this new contraption, the farmer bought it, thinking it would save him from waking early and make his mornings easier.
The first morning after the farmer set up the mechanical rooster, it crowed exactly at dawn, just as promised. The farmer smiled and went back to sleep, confident that his days of waking up early were over.
But as days turned into weeks, the farmer noticed something strange. The fields were no longer as vibrant. The crops didn’t grow as quickly, and the chickens were more sluggish than before. The farmer spent his days tending to the mechanical rooster, making sure it stayed in perfect working order, but he forgot to pay attention to the land, the animals, and his own rhythms.
One day, a neighbor came by and asked, “Why do you rely on that machine so much? The old rooster crowed because he was connected to the earth. You used to know when the day began because you felt it.”
The farmer was puzzled, “But the mechanical rooster is flawless. It’s never late. It never tires. Isn’t that what I want?”
The neighbor nodded slowly, “It’s true that the machine does its job well, but it takes away something essential—the connection between you, the earth, and the world around you. The rooster wasn’t just a signal; it was part of your life. When you relied only on the machine, you forgot to listen to the winds, feel the sun, and hear the quiet wisdom of nature.”
The farmer thought deeply, and the next morning, he rose early, just as he had before. He heard the birds chirping, felt the cool air, and saw the first light creeping over the horizon. And in that moment, he understood. The mechanical rooster had done its job, but it had also detached him from the pulse of his own life. He put it away and returned to the simple, imperfect but real connection he had with the world around him.
From that day on, the farmer woke with the dawn, tended to his fields, and listened to the sounds of the earth. His crops flourished, and his chickens, though imperfect, were healthier. And most importantly, he remembered that while machines could assist, they should never replace the wisdom of one's own senses and instincts.
Moral of the Story: Reliance on technology can bring convenience, but it should never replace the connection to our own experience, intuition, and the world around us.

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 21st, 1925 at 2:54 pm and is filed under Stories. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.