On a small farm in the middle of the countryside resided a cock and a dog. While they were an unlikely pair, they became close during their years on the farm. However, the cock and the dog both had dreamed of seeing the world outside of the white picket fences that kept them at the farm.
“There is so much more outside of these gates that calls us to explore!” the cock declared.
“I agree,” the dog said. “Let us be allies in our worldly adventures.”
Neither of the two friends had left the farm before so both the cock and dog were unaware of what dangers awaited them in the forest. Deep in the heart of the woods lived a sly fox known for his deception and cunning tongue. His greatest weapons were is suave ways and his knack for devious plots. He preyed upon animals just passing through the forest since the rest of the regular dwellers were aware of his reputation. The fox had no friends or allies because he could not be trusted by any of the animals in the woods.
Late one night, the cock and the dog set off for the forest without any anticipation of whom they might run into during their adventure. They agreed to be allies and watching out for one another. The cock would set up in the trees and alert the dog if he saw any impending danger. The dog was a good hunter and was able to provide meals for the cock and himself.
After a day full of exploring, the cock and dog found a tree that would be suitable shelter for the night. The cock was able to reside in the branches and the dog found a hole near the base which he took shelter in. When they laid down to sleep that night, they were unaware that they were being followed by the sly fox all day long. In the middle of the night, the fox began to creep towards the tree that housed the cock and the dog. The cock heard the rustling of leaves on the ground and woke up startled. The fox, realizing he had been discovered, took to his methods of persuasion and brown nosing to cover his tracks.
“Good evening sir!” he greeted the cock confidently. “I apologize for rousing you, but I was looking for a safe place to lay my head for the night. Could I bother you for some shelter just for this evening?”
The cock pondered this request and unexpectedly heard a soft growl from the bottom of the tree. He quickly understood that the dog had been awakened by this suspicious guest and he too and also did not trust the fox.
“Why of course, it is no trouble at all!” the cock said with a knowing grin. “Come around to the other side of the tree and you will find a hole you may sleep in.”
“Thank you for your hospitality,” the fox said.
Without suspecting he had been tricked in his own game, the fox trotted around to the other side of the tree and was startled to find the dog there with his teeth barred. The dog chased the fox out of the forest and returned to the tree moments later to inform the cock they were safe again. They spent the rest of their night safe in the tree unaware that they had become heroes to the rest of the forest dwellers.
Author’s note: This story is about a dog and rooster who wanted to seek adventure outside the confines of their farm. Their curiosity was strong but they were naive about the dangers of the world beyond the white picket fence that surround them. By becoming allies, they were able to defend and protect one another as they journeyed throughout the forest. I adapted the original story to give more background information on how the fox was rejected by the rest of the forest animals because of his sneaky ways. I wanted to give more depth on how by being selfish he drove other forest dwellers away and was alone by consequence. This way, when the fox is introduced to the story, the reader has a preconception about his intentions. Instead of the dog actually attacking the fox, I changed it so he was chased out of the forest therefore making the cock and dog heroes. I made the title “The Forest” because the story somewhat reminded me of the musical Into The Woods. Innocent adventures hoping to satisfy their curiosity and they wind up in a life or death situation. Of course, like the musical and fable, this story has a happily ever after.
Bibliography: This story is inspired and adapted from the fable “The Dog, The Cock and The Fox”from the book The Æsop for Children written by Æsop and illustrations done by Milo Winter (1919).
What a great story! I love how much detail you went in to. I also really like the musical Into the Woods and I can see how it relates to the story you wrote. I have never heard of or read the original story before now, so I'm glad you exposed me to it and I really like the changes you made!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your story! Like Toni, I had never heard of the story before, so the background you gave helped me to understand where your inspiration came from! The personalities you gave your characters were great and made me interested in the characters! (Is it bad I kind of like the sly fox?) I think you did a great job of using those personalities to give each character their own purpose in the story. The cock did something the dog couldn't do, by sitting in the tree and vise versa. It really made me see how without one another they would not have been as successful! Great story!
ReplyDeleteSavannah,
ReplyDeleteThis is a perfect fable. You have your unlikely allies who set off into the unknown, with predators threatening to ruin their plans. Each part of your story fit perfectly into the next, so it was a very cohesive story and flowed really well. I appreciated the little bits of dialogue and the descriptions of each character you gave, especially setting up the friendship as well as the reason no one trusts the fox. Great job!
Savannah, this was a great story! First, I liked that you used pictures to show what each animal looked like. This helped me to picture the animals and it caught my attention because the dog picture is really cute. I was also surprised because I feel like usually the fox wins in these stories so when he was outsmarted it made for a nice change. I wonder what would have happened if the cock had not woken up in time to notice the fox. If the dog had noticed him first, would he have been smart enough to get around the foxes cunning tongue and manipulation? I also liked how you separated the story into different paragraphs/sections. This made it a lot easier to read and follow along because it showed where the natural breaks in the story were. I also like that there is a more discrete moral of two people sticking together and becoming uncommon allies in time of need.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you said that the fox was “brown nosing,” that made me laugh haha. I also liked the friendship dynamic between the dog and the cock. They seemed to work well together when tricking the fox. The backstory for the fox was also a nice touch and added depth to the story! Great job!
ReplyDelete