My Brother閳ユ獨 Peculiar Chicken
by Alejandro R. Roces
My brother Kiko had a very peculiar chicken. It was very peculiar because no one could tell whether it was a rooster or a hen. My brother claimed it was a rooster. I claimed it was a hen. We almost got lynched trying to settle the argument.
The whole question began early one morning, while Kiko and I were driving the chickens from the cornfield. The corn had just been planted and the chickens were scratching the seed out for food. Suddenly we heard the rapid flapping of wings. We turned in the direction of the sound and saw the two chickens fighting the far end of the field. We could not see the birds clearly, as they were lunging at each other in a whirlwind of feathers and dust.
閳ユ窡ook at the rooster fight!閳?my brother said pointing excitedly at one of the chickens. 閳ユ凡hy, if I had a rooster like that I could get rich in the cockpit.閳?br>
閳ユ窡et us go and catch it,閳?I suggested. 閳ユ罚o, you stay here, I will go and catch it,閳?Kiko said, my brother slowly approached the battling chickens. They were so busy fighting that they did not notice him as he approached. When he got near them, he dived and caught one of them by the legs. It struggled and squawked. Kiko finally held it by both wings and it stood still. I ran over to where he was and took a good look at the chicken.
閳ユ穾ba, it is a hen!閳?I said.
閳ユ凡hat is the matter with you?閳?my brother asked. 閳ユ窔s the heat making you sick?閳?br>
閳ユ罚o, look at its head. It has no comb or wattles.閳?br>
閳ユ罚o comb or wattles! Who cares about its comb or wattles? Didn閳ユ獩 you see it fight?閳?br>
閳ユ藩ure, I saw it fight, but I still say it is a hen.閳?br>
閳ユ穾 hen! Did you ever saw a hen with spurs like this? Or a hen with a tail like this?閳?br>
Kiko and I could not agree on what determines the sex of a chicken. If the animal in question had been a carabao it would have been simple. All we would have to do was to look at the carabao. We would have wasted no time at examining its tail, hooves, or horns. We would simply have looked at the animal straight in the face, and if it had a brass on its nose the carabao would undoubtedly be a bull. But chickens are not like carabaos. So the argument went on in the field and the whole morning.
At noon, we left to have our lunch. We argued about it on the way home. When we arrived at our house, Kiko tethered the chicken on a peg. The chicken flapped its wings 閳?and then crowed.
閳ユ翻here! Did you hear that?閳?my brother exclaimed triumphantly. 閳ユ窔 suppose you are going to tell me now that carabaos fly.閳?br>
閳ユ窔 do not care if it crows or not,閳?I said. 閳ユ翻hat chicken is a hen.閳?br>
We went in the house and the discussion continued during lunch.
閳ユ窔t is not a hen,閳?Kiko said. 閳ユ窔t is a rooster.閳?br>
閳ユ窔t is a hen,閳?I said.
閳ユ窔t is not.閳?br>
閳ユ窔t is.閳?br>
閳ユ翻hat閳ユ獨 enough!閳?Mother interrupted. 閳ユ窏ow many times must Father tell you boys not to argue during lunch?閳?What is the argument about this time?閳?br>
We told Mother and she went out to look at the chicken,
閳ユ翻he chicken閳? she said, 閳ユ笅s a binabae. It is a rooster that looks like a hen.閳?br> That should have ended the argument. But Father also went to see the chicken and he said.
閳ユ罚o, Mother, you are wrong. That chicken is a binalake, a hen which looks like a rooster.閳?br>
閳ユ窏ave you been drinking again?閳?Mother asked.
閳ユ罚o,閳?Father answered.
閳ユ翻hen what makes you say that rooster is a hen? Have you ever seen a hen with feathers like that?閳?br>
閳ユ窡isten. I have handled fighting roosters since I was a boy, and you cannot tell me that thing is a rooster.閳?br>
Before Kiko and I realized what had happened to Father and Mother were arguing about the chicken all by themselves. Soon Mother was crying. She always cried when argued with Father.
閳ユ返ou know well that it is a rooster,閳?she sobbed. 閳ユ返ou are just being mean and stubborn.閳?br>
閳ユ窔 am sorry,閳?Father said. But I know a hen when I see one.閳?br>
Then he put his arms around Mother and called her corny names like my Reina Elenea, my Madonna and my Maria Clara. He always did that when Mother cried. Kiko and I felt embarrassed. We left the house without finishing our lunch.
閳ユ窔 know who can settle this question,閳?my brother said.
閳ユ翻enienteng Tasio.閳?br>
Tenienteng Tasio was the head of the village. I did not think that the chief of the village was the man who could solve a problem. For the chief was the barrio philosopher. By this I mean that he was a man who explained his strange views by even stranger reasons. For example, the chief frowned on cockfighting. Now many people object to rooster fighting, their reason being either that they think cockfighting is cruel or that they think gambling is bad. Neither of these was the chief閳ユ獨 reason. Cockfighting, he said was a waste of time because it has been proven that one gamecock can beat another.
The chief, however, had one merit. He was the oldest man in the barrio, and while this did not make him an ornithologist, still, we have to admit that anything said always carries more weight if it is said by a man with grey hairs. So when Kiko suggested consulting the teniente, I voiced no objection. I acquiesced to let him be the arbiter of our dispute. He untied the chicken and we both took it to the chief.
閳ユ翻enienteng Tasio, is this chicken a male or a female?閳?Kiko asked.
閳ユ翻hat is a question that could concern only another chicken,閳?the chief replied.
Both Kiko and I were taken aback by this replication. But Kiko was obstinate, so he tried another approach.
閳ユ窡ook, teniente,閳?he said, 閳ユ笗y brother and I happen to have a special interest in this particular chicken. Please give us an answer. Just say 閳ユΧes閳?or 閳ユΕo閳? Is this a rooster?閳?br>
閳ユ窔t does not look like any rooster that I have ever seen,閳?said the teniente.
閳ユ窔t is a hen, then,閳?I said.
閳ユ窔t does not look like any hen that I have ever seen,閳?was the reply.
My brother and I were dumbfounded. For a long while we remained speechless. Then Teniente Tasio asked:
閳ユ窏ave you ever seen an animal like this before?閳?br>
Kiko and I had to admit that we hadn閳ユ獩.
閳ユ翻hen how do you both know it is a chicken?閳?br>
閳ユ凡ell, what else could it be?閳?Kiko asked in turn.
閳ユ窔t could be another kind of bird.閳?br>
閳ユ伐h, God, no!閳?Kiko said.閳?Let閳ユ獨 go to town and see Mr. Cruz. He would know.閳?br>
Mr. Eduardo Cruz lived in the nearby town of Alcala. He had studied poultry husbandry at Los Ba甯給s, and he operated a large egg farm. When we got there Mr. Cruz was taking his siesta, so Kiko released the chicken in his yard.
The other chicken would not associate with ours. Not only did they keep as far away from it as they could, but they did not even seem to care to which sex it belonged. Unembarrassed by this, our chicken chased and disgraced several pullets.
閳ユ翻here!閳?my brother exclaimed.
閳ユ翻hat should prove to you it is a rooster.閳?br>
閳ユ窔t proves nothing of the sort,閳?I said. 閳ユ窔t only proves it has rooster instincts 閳?but it could still be a hen.閳?br>
As soon as Mr. Cruz was up, we caught the chicken and took it to his office.
閳ユ发r. Cruz,閳?Kiko said, 閳ユ笅s this a hen or a rooster?閳?br>
Mr. Cruz looked at the bird curiously and then said:
閳ユ窏mmmm, I don閳ユ獩 know. I couldn閳ユ獩 tell at one look. I have never run across a biddy like this before.閳?br>
閳ユ凡ell, is there any way you can tell?閳?br>
閳ユ凡hy, sure. Look at the feathers on its back. If the ends are round, it閳ユ獨 a she. If they are pointed, then it is a he.閳?br>
The three of us examined its feathers closely. It had both!
閳ユ窏mm. Very peculiar,閳?said Mr. Cruz.
閳ユ窔s there any other way you can tell?閳?br>
閳ユ窔 could kill it and examine its insides,閳?br>
閳ユ罚o, I don閳ユ獩 want it killed,閳?my brother said.
I took the plumed creature in my arms and we walked back to the barrio. Kiko was silent most of the way. Then suddenly he snapped his fingers and said:
閳ユ窔 know how I can prove to you that this is a rooster.閳?br>
閳ユ窏ow?閳?I asked.
閳ユ凡ould you agree that this is a rooster if it fights in a cockpit 閳?and it wins?閳?br>
閳ユ窔f this hen of yours can beat a gamecock, I would believe anything,閳?I said.
閳ユ穾ll right,閳?he said, 閳ユ辅e will take it to the cockpit this coming Sunday.閳?br>
So that Sunday we took the chicken to the cockpit. Kiko looked around for a suitable opponent and finally decided on a red rooster. I recognized the rooster as a veteran of the pit whose picture had once graced the cover of the gamecock magazine Pintakasi. It was also the chanticleer that had once escaped to the forest and lured all the hens away from the surrounding farms. Raising its serpent-liked head, the red rooster eyed the chicken arrogantly and jiggled its sickle feathers. This scared me. For I knew that when the gamecock is in breeding mood it is twice a ferocious.
閳ユ窉o not pit your hen against the rooster,閳?I told Kiko. That the rooster is not a native chicken. It was brought over the from Texas.閳?br>
閳ユ翻hat does not mean anything to me,閳?my brother said. 閳ユ壕鈧豢y rooster will kill it.閳?br>
閳ユ窉o not be a fool,閳?I said. 閳ユ翻hat red rooster is a killer. It has killed more chickens than the cholera. There is no rooster in this province that can take its gaff. Pick on a less formidable rooster.閳?br>
My brother would not listen. The match was made and the birds were headed for the killing. Sharp steel gaffs were tied to their left legs. Kiko bet eight pesos on his chicken. I only bet two. The odds were two to one. Then I said a tacit prayer to Santa Rita de Casia, patroness of the impossible.
Then the fight began. Both birds were released at the center of the arena. The Texan scratched the ground as if it were digging a grave for its opponent. Moments later, the two fighters confronted each other. I expected our rooster to die of fright. Instead, a strange thing happened. A lovesick expression came into the red rooster閳ユ獨 eyes. Then it did a love dance. Naturally, this was a most surprising incident to one and all, but particularly to those who had stakes on the Texas rooster. For it was evident that the Texan was thoroughly infatuated with our chicken and that any attention it had for the moment was strictly amatory. But before anyone could collect his wits our foul rushed at the red stag with its hackle feathers flaring. In one lunge, it buried its spur in its adversary閳ユ獨 breast. The fight was over! The sentencer raised our chicken in token victory.
閳ユ翻iope! Tiope! Fixed fight!閳?the crowed shouted.
Then a riot broke out. People tore the bamboo benches apart and used them as clubs. My brother and I had to leave through the back way. I had the chicken under my arm. We ran towards the coconut groves and we kept running till we lost the mob. As soon as we felt safe, we sat on the ground and rested. We were both panting like dogs.
閳ユ罚ow are you convinced it is a rooster?閳?Kiko muttered between breaths.
閳ユ返es,閳?I answered.
I was glad the whole thing was over.
But the chicken had other ideas. It began to quiver. Then something round and warm dropped on to my hand. The chicken cackled with laughter. I looked down and saw 閳?an egg!
Is the chicken in "my brother's peculiar chicken" by alejandro roces a hen or a rooster? that was way too long i got bored and couldnt finish reading it.........this is for jokes and riddles anyways not to publish a story
Is the chicken in "my brother's peculiar chicken" by alejandro roces a hen or a rooster? The chicken is a hen... HELLO!!! It laid an egg nga eh!!! Meron bang rooster na nanganganak?! Hmmm...
Is the chicken in "my brother's peculiar chicken" by alejandro roces a hen or a rooster? lol i think its a hen i guess scince it laid an egg...
Is the chicken in "my brother's peculiar chicken" by alejandro roces a hen or a rooster? After a very long story, it sounds like your bird is a seductive and charming killer hen. Reminds me of a killer pekineses I once saw. Small but deceptively deadly.
