Otis the King, parts 1555 - 1558

 1555. We have the honor of greeting and announcing the new day. The idea of the new dawn is traditionally seen as an optimistic omen. Nevertheless, the fact is we are considered a bird of ill omen, and in history we often enter the stage at a time of tragedy. This I fear had its beginning with the death of Socrates, whose last words were, “Crito, we own a cock to Asclepius.”

1556. Then about four hundred years later we roosters are dragged into a tragedy again, when Christ is about to be crucified and he says to Peter, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Why is it, I ask you Otis, that we roosters are abused as a symbol in history in this way; why not utilize a crow, or a goat or pig.  The crows at least are known for crowing out their dismal warnings.

1557. “I think,” said Otis,  “that the use you roosters as a symbol of death has a very obvious unconscious explanation. Please forgive me for saying this, but I believe it stems from the unfortunate habit you roosters have of running all over the place for a short time after your heads are cut off.”

 1558. Even though a pious individual may have a deep faith in the hereafter, when death approaches they are filled with fears and doubts. They exert all of their efforts to form a positive image of life in the great beyond, but they fail to form any meaningful image. The fact remains, the only image of life after death they know about is provided by you roosters in a most graphic and disturbing way; which pops into their minds as if to spite them.

Otis The king, parts 1551 - 1554

1551. The troupe could now be said to be a quintet, made up of five players all of equal importance in the skits, but as so often happens with anything beyond a duet, the players are always of various abilities. Otis was a great writer, that was becoming obvious, and his acting skills were also exceptional, but the rooster was one of those stellar characters, the type to steal the show and throw all the others into an artistic shade.

1552. The rooster being a bird had the advantage of all birds in that he had universal consciousness and memory. Therefore his mind was full of subtle details and ideas he could draw upon in his performances, but alas he was not creative. The wolf was highly creative but since he was rather like a dog he did not posses either the memory or the consciousness of birds. So it came to pass that Otis and the rooster became a creative team.

 

1553. There was the recurring difficulty of getting new works into rehearsal, as it was always necessary to bridge the gap of the limitations of the three original performers, but they managed. Almost all of these great works are now lost save one, the well-known “Smallpox,” skit. Here is how it came about.

1554. The rooster was very sensitive to the fact that he was considered an ill omen. This is what he said to Otis about it. “If any bird, or any animal should be awarded the prize of being a good omen, of being a harbinger of joy and good tidings it is the roosters, or cocks, if you prefer.

Otis The king, parts 1547 - 1550

1547. How was Otis to arrange for this skit to see the light of day? There were plenty of hens available to play the part but nobody would give then a chance to try out. Every time Otis introduced a new chicken or rooster to the troupe they were turned into dinner and their bones boiled down for soup. After several failed attempts to keep dinner alive long enough to get the idea of a cock and dog fight into the minds of his associates he was on the point of giving up.

1548. But as so often with many fine things in the arts, the skit came about by accident. A rooster wandered into the camp in the evening one night. As soon as Otis saw the thing he began to back away from it as if it was a terrible menace. It was either an insane, rabid, or suicidal rooster because he backed Otis up against the cart and then lunged at him and pecked him all over the neck and shoulders.

1549. Otis rolled over and played dead, he threw himself down on his back and begged for mercy. The cock strutted back and forth in triumph, the three comedians watched awestruck. They may have been obtuse, but they grasped the concept and immediately put it into production. The rooster was not consigned to the stockpot but treated with the kind of respect a new star of the theatre can only hope for.

1550. By morning Otis had time to completely explain the concept of the skit to the rooster. The rooster had a few suggestions but by and large he understood the basic idea. The real difficulty was the endless hours that had to be devoted to teaching the three comedians their parts. Anything new or out of the ordinary presented Otis with endless difficulties.

Otis The King, parts 1543 - 1546

1543. But this was not the case. There were instances, not often obviously, of single careless wolves being torn to pieces in the hen house. What strategy the chickens used to accomplish this was not widely known, but Otis had seen it happen. A decoy chicken lures the wolf to the hen house where a great mass of chickens lies in wait. Even before the wolf has a chance to lunge, he is attacked all over his body at once.

1544. It takes thirty of forty chickens to kill a wolf, and it can only be accomplished if the entire herd of chickens is in position before the attack begins. It never works if the birds are taken by surprise, because it takes almost an hour for them to stop running around in circles when they have been startled. There is nothing more deadly that a forewarned and prepared group of chickens.

1545. Other birds are equally deadly if prepared, five ducks can kill a wolf, and there have been swans that can kill a dog in single combat without ruffling a feather.

1546. Otis decided that what the Cock fight, skit was in need of was a dose of reality. He conceived a skit acted out with actual chickens, or one chicken to be exact. This one chicken would be pitted in a fight against a dog, the part of the dog being played by Otis, obviously. The combat is so unequal that the hen has no chance, except that it is a bold resourceful chicken in combat with a cowardly dog.

))))))) Otis The King, parts 1539 - 1542

1539. What was interesting about the cockfight was the clothing of the chickens: one sported the blue and gold colors of the Mongovians, and the other wore the red and green sash of the Lusitanians. If they found themselves in Mongovian territory, then the Mongovian chicken would win, but not until after a terrible struggle.

1540. The Mongovian chicken is torn to pieces and every feather is plucked from his scrawny hide till only the broom handle and a little straw is left. He is covered with ketchup to indicate his wounds. Then just before the death rattle, he recovers. He seizes the Lusitanian chicken by wire that binds the straw to the broom handle and holding him down, proceeds to flay him alive right down to his wooden stump.

1541. Otis felt that this skit could use an improvement. First of all he thought using the heads of brooms for chickens was entirely inadequate. He was positive many of the spectators did not even know the brooms were supposed to represent chickens. He knew that the creation of actual puppets was well outside the skills of his troupe, but he knew about chickens from way back. How to improve the skit did not cross his mind until dinnertime.

1542. Dinner was chicken, as it so often was. Otis had great respect for chickens. First of all it was his favorite food. He was well aware that chickens were not respected as fighters. Even wolves had only a limited understanding of the character of the average chicken. Most wolves imagined it was simply a matter of getting into the hen house without being seen, and after that it was only a question of how much one wanted to eat.

Otis The King, parts 1535 - 1538

1535. Otis was the Vonnegut type. Having rewritten the Fish Pie skit he longed to create some other work. The adulation of the crowd was certainly an impetus to him but he would have done it anyway, that was the sort of wolf he was, insatiably creative.

1536. And keep in mind that the skits Otis was about to write for his comedian employees he would never get credit for. All of the credit will be given to the clowns he was assisting. And what about his acting abilities? What about his sense of timing and his ability to know when is the right moment to pause, draw back and roll his eyes up to the heavens? What about his knowing how long to hold the pose, before a contrary movement a split second later?

1537. No! Otis will not be given credit even for his acting abilities, because all of the praise and all of the adulation will go to the three comedians. It will be assumed that Otis is insensibly doing what he was trained to do. That Otis knows exactly what he is doing does not enter into the minds of the audience or the other actors. But it doesn't matter. Otis feels no resentment if others get the credit. A king is a king, no matter what the clothing.

1538. The next skit he set his mind to re-writing was one titled, “The cockfight.” This skit was more of a puppet show than a pantomime. Two chickens fight each other to the death while the three comedians watch the fight and cheer for their favorite. Actual chickens were not involved. The fight is carried out by two puppets that looked rather like the heads of two old brooms that had been used to sweep out hen houses, which is what they were.

Otis The King, parts 1531 - 1534

1531. Because the sad truth is there never was a novel or a play waiting to be written, but rather only a misplaced desire for fame and adulation. So it is necessary to separate the creative impulse into two parts: the desire to create, and the desire to be recognized and appreciated for what one has created. These are two distinct, often horribly irreconcilable desires.

1532. One often has heard the question, “If you had to spend the rest of your life like Robinson Crusoe, on a deserted island, what one book would you chose to bring.” One person says, “The Bible,” and another wants to read, “Moby Dick, ” or some such other fat tome. But the creative person without hesitation says, “Give me a blank book, with as many pages as possible, a pen and enough ink to last a lifetime, and I will write a book only I will read.”

1533. “But,” a friend says, “no one will ever read your book.” And you should reply, “If on my island there is an apple tree, God willing it will produce apples, and never once will that tree enquire, “Is there anyone out there to eat my apples?” There are various creative types.  First is the Salinger type, that being a person who has only one real idea given to them by God to produce.  But then there is the Vonnegut type.

1534. The Vonnegut type of writer creates one work after another, one better than the last and never stops till they are ancient, old and wrinkled up, puffing on their cigarettes all the while just like Picasso who was another person of the same type. Such people never say, “I have said my last word,” until they take their last breath.