Billy Budd, Cock-A-Doodle-Doo! summary

What happens

1. Distressed by disasters, debts, and illness, the narrator hears a rooster whose crow transforms his mood and his view of the countryside.
2. He mistreats his creditor, searches unsuccessfully for the bird, and mortgages his property to settle his debts.
3. While bringing Merrymusk unpaid wages, he discovers the magnificent rooster and learns that its owner refuses to sell it.
4. Merrymusk explains that Trumpet gives his sick family courage, and the narrator continues drawing confidence from its crow.
5. During another visit, the narrator witnesses Merrymusk, his wife, their children, and finally Trumpet die.
6. He buries the household and rooster together beneath a carved gravestone and declares that he no longer yields to gloom.

What to notice

Merrymusk explains why his sick family welcomes the loud crow. The question makes the bird’s encouragement an answer to suffering rather than a cure.

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