Description of events that occurred before my rebirth based on recollections narrated by Ram, Lakshman, and Sita

Date: December 2994; Place: The Delhi Tower

“If it keeps up, man will atrophy all his limbs but the push-button finger.” – Frank Lloyd Wright

Larry was outside the Delhi Tower on the Surface. Blue skies; bright sunlight; cool breeze. It was a very vivid sight. He could see butterflies flitting about the blossoms blowing gently in the breeze. He was sitting in the cool shadow beneath a tall banyan tree, relaxing languidly away from the enervating heat. He was under the same tree in the same place, relaxing in the same manner he usually spent his afternoons. But this, he knew, was not real; he was in a dream. Larry was sure of it! He had had the same recurring dream for the past few weeks.

Suddenly, he was perched between the branches of the tree, peering down at the wolf pack below through the foliage. A pack of wolves was hunting him down. They had surrounded him and were sitting on their haunches in a circle around the tree.

The leader of the pack looked at him and spoke, “The strength of the wolf is the pack and the strength of the pack is the wolf!”

Larry had heard that sentence before. He vaguely recalled reading that line from a children’s book in the Archives when he was younger. He actively recalled it from similar dreams he had had intermittently over the previous nights.

The wolves started howling in unison. He knew what was coming next. Despite his best efforts to hang on to the branch, despite his assurances to himself to the contrary, he found himself letting go.

Usually, this was when he’d wake up sweating in fear. Usually.

This time, it was different. He fell into the chicken coop he’d built as a hobby to secure a supply of fresh eggs. When he stood up, he could see the hens in the coop clucking away from him in fear. The roosters were going at it as usual, pecking away at each other. And outside the coop’s wooden fences, he could see the wolf pack.

The wolves started tearing down the fences. The roosters kept pecking each other, completely oblivious to what was going on outside. When the wooden slats were torn down, the wolves poured inside through the openings and started gobbling the chicken.

One of the roosters suddenly looked up at Larry and spoke, “We were happy in the trees. We had families; we built nests and took care of our children. Now, we have forgotten how to build nests, we’ve forgotten how to fly, we’ve forgotten how to survive. We believed that the grain and the shelter you offered us were free. We were wrong! We must now pay the price!”

Larry woke up suddenly with a rush of excitement. He knew the answer he’d been searching for.

“It’s domestication! That’s it!” he exclaimed.

He got out his notebook and started writing furiously.

“The Chicken’s Tale,” he began.

*~*

The Chicken’s Tale Once upon a time, there were many birds who lived in a forest. There were parrots, eagles, junglefowl, pigeons, swans, geese and owls. They bonded for life to form families and co-existed peacefully with one another. When the mother became pregnant, the father would build her a nest. He would bring her grain while she sat on the eggs. Once the eggs hatched, he would bring fat juicy worms for his children to eat and he would protect them from snakes and foxes. Once they were ready, he would teach them to fly high in the sky just like him. He would also teach his boys how to build nests so that one day they too could become good fathers. One day, a lone wolf visited the forest but he could not find any easy prey. The birds could easily fly away from him. And their eggs were safely protected in nests built high among the branches. He went away hungry and dejected. Another day, a Man came to the forest and built a house. He set up a large coop with many warm nests made of hay. He then invited all the birds in the forest to come and live in the coop. “I will make sure that there was plenty of grain and water for everybody. You will also be safe from foxes and snakes”, he said. The wise owl advised the other birds against it. Most of the birds decided to heed his advice but the junglefowl were convinced that the Man was acting in good faith. So they moved into the coop where it was warm and cozy and food was always available. They were now completely idle. So they partied every night and had a lot of fun. When mating season came, they began their mating routine as usual. But this time, something was different. Since the Man was providing them with food, shelter, and protection, the hens did not need a rooster to build a nest or help with raising their young ones. “Let’s have a new society”, they said. “We don’t need to have families anymore. And we certainly don’t have to be monogamous anymore”, they said. And anybody who objected was mocked for being out of touch and old-fashioned. After many generations, the roosters had become very violent. They constantly fought among each other to get to the top of the pecking order for mating rights. And the rooster that got to the top monopolized all the hens. Some of the roosters left the coop and went back into the woods. But they did not know how to build nests because their fathers had never taught them. They could not convince any hens to come with them into the woods to start new families because they could not build nests. The ones who left the coop soon died alone of starvation. Among the wild breeds, the roosters built nests, picked worms and helped protect their hens while their eggs were being hatched; among the domesticated breeds, the availability of free food and shelter made such skills redundant. Among the wild breeds, roosters rarely fought with each other; among the domesticated breeds, they spent the majority of their waking hours fighting for dominance. The wild breeds continued to pair-bond with each hen exhibiting loyalty towards her rooster; among the domesticated breeds, concepts like loyalty became antiquated as the most aggressive, dominant rooster was promptly rewarded by all the hens in the coop with sexual access. Word that the jungle fowl had been domesticated spread around the forest. On hearing this news, the wolf came calling again. This time, he came with his pack brothers. They attacked the fence surrounding the coop and began tearing it down. The Man, seeing the wolf pack, ran away in fright abandoning his pets. The hens clucked in fear and asked the roosters for help. Most of the roosters flew away to safety abandoning them – they had no genetic stake to protect. The dominant rooster realized that the game was up and escaped with some of his wives into the jungle. The eggs were left behind for the wolves to feast upon. The roosters who escaped found that they were not adapted to the jungle anymore. They could not find food, they had forgotten how to build nests and their wings were atrophied. Slowly, they perished in the jungle, one by one until they were all gone! They realized too late that the food and shelter offered by Man were not free; they had to pay a very heavy price indeed!

*~*

Human domestication forced a shift in the mating habits of the jungle fowl, which are monogamous in the wild but became polygynous after several millennia of domestication. All vestiges of fatherhood were eradicated from the domesticated fowl over time as it lost the ability to fly, build nests and survive on its own. Dependency upon humans also produced violence as polygynous roosters fought to climb atop the pecking order.

An equivalent domestication process had happened to humans in the Towers!

The Laws of Man: Chapter 13 >>

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