Tuesday, February 24, 2009

GALLUS by Marither

Somewhere in Northern China, there’s a town called Shochet, a hopeless place for birds. Once there was a cockerel named Gallus who wanted to be like his dad who was a famous cock fighter. After the death of his dad in the cockpit, all the cockerels were frightened and discouraged to join the Hotspur (a club for cock fighters), except for Gallus, who was brave enough to persistently practice and prepare himself to join the club.  For him, he preferred to die as a cock fighter than be placed in a cage for poultry.
Gallus tried to convince his fellow cockerels to join the Hotspur Club because it is the only way to free themselves. But all of them were weak, hopeless, lazy and have prepared themselves for poultry.  Gallus did not get discouraged, but instead, he persevered to join the club.
After days of hard work, practice, discipline, determination and patience, his skills were noticed and was invited to join the Hotspur Club. He couldn’t believe he had made it. His family and friends were still pessimist and told him that: whether we like it or not, we’ll all die. Gallus made them realize that there’s still hope in the town of Shochet. That, yes we’ll all die, but we have the choice to live longer, stronger and meaningful. “It’s not how you die, but it’s how you live.”


MORAL LESSONS: Have faith in yourself and be optimistic. Determination, patience and hard work are needed to attain your goals and objectives successfully. Life is too short to worry on death/problems, so live life to the fullest.

1 comment:

  1. • gallus – Latin word for cockerel/ immature male chickens of less than a year's age
    • shochet - is the ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws
    • cockerel - a young domestic cock, not older than one year
    • cockpit - a pit/ring for cockfights
    • hotspur – from the Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, where their emblem/symbol is a cockerel standing upon a football
    • caponization – convert cock into capon. It affects the disposition/character of the bird. In this procedure the testes of the rooster are completely removed; a surgical procedure is required for this as its sexual organs are not external (most birds do not possess a penis, however roosters have a small penis to facilitate mating). As a result of this procedure certain male physical characteristics will develop, but stunted/small. Removal of the bird's testes eliminates the male sex hormones, lessening the male sex instincts and changing their behavior: the birds become more docile/passive and less active and tend not to fight.

    This procedure produces a unique type of poultry meat which is favored by a specialized market. The meat of normal uncastrated roosters has a tendency to become coarse, stringy/tough as the birds age. This process does not exist in the capon. As caponized roosters grow slower than entire males they accumulate more body fat; the concentration of fat in both the light and dark areas of the capon meat is greater than in that of the uncastrated males; overall, it is often thought that capon meat is more tender, juicy, and flavorful than regular chicken.

    • capon - is a castrated rooster whose reproductive organs were removed at a young age.
    • pessimist – person who expects the worst, the feeling that things will turn out badly

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