Thousands of years ago, our planet did not revolve around a single sun, but around eight suns. As you can imagine, the heat and light were so intense that life on earth was almost unbearable.
It was very difficult for humans to cultivate because almost all the seas, rivers and lakes had evaporated, leaving the fields completely dry. The animals no longer found trees to take refuge or grass to eat. Unfortunately, there were no habitable places left to emigrate to in order to survive. The shortage of food and water was so great that our wonderful blue planet was turning into a desert planet in which the little life that remained was on the verge of extinction.
One day, in a place in Asia, a group of men decided that the situation was really desperate. Eight suns lighting and warming the earth were too many!
They talked at length about how to end this terrible situation and came to the conclusion that the best thing was to scare seven suns and keep only one.
The idea was good but… How to do it?
It occurred to a young man that they could summon the most skilled archer in the village to shoot the suns and hide them forever. They all thought it was a great option and, wasting no time, they went looking for it.
The archer was very flattered and accepted the proposal delightedly. He chose the seven sharpest arrows he had and climbed to the top of a mountain. He drew his bow, sharpened his aim, and fired at the first sun. The bright star, upon receiving the impact, cowered and hid forever. Then he did the same with the second, with the third, with the fourth, with the fifth, with the sixth, and with the seventh sun.
So far, the plan had gone perfectly, but something happened: the eighth sun, seeing what was happening, was afraid and decided to disappear from the sky before one of those pointed arrows hit him in the depths of his heart .
Scared, he slipped behind the horizon. Automatically, the light and heat disappeared, darkness took over the planet and an immense cold spread across all continents.
The men of the village hugged each other in terror and began to cry without taking their eyes off the sky. They could not live without the eighth sun!
They met again to deliberate because the situation was critical and a quick and effective solution had to be found. One boy suggested that perhaps if the sun listened to the animals’ call for help, it would feel sorry and would return. The others looked at each other and without saying anything else, they dispersed at full speed to warn members of different species. As expected, the animals understood the need to collaborate and climbed the mountain to try to contact the sun.
A cow bellowed, an elephant barked, a tiger roared, a horse whinnied … Each one without exception called for the sun with all their might, but nothing was achieved. The sun was so scared that it refused to return.
When they had lost all hope and a blanket of ice was beginning to cover all the valleys as far as the eye could see, a small rooster arrived determined to lend a hand. He reached the top of the mountain and wrapped in the gloom, he shook his feathers, stretched his neck and began to sing with all his might.
The plaintive kikiriki of the little animal echoed in space and reached the ears of the eighth sun. The great star felt a lot of tenderness and then he understood that he had nothing to fear. Deep down, he was aware that without his grandiose presence, life would disappear in a matter of hours and the earth would end up as a hideous gray ball covered in dust and stones.
And that is how, timidly, the beautiful and incredible sun began to rise in the distance before the astonished gaze of all living beings. Humans and animals began to clap with excitement and feel the warmth warm their icy bodies again.
The light spread to the last corner, the ice melted like butter on the fire and the fields suddenly blossomed with the sudden spring. At last the land was back in all its splendor!
Since then, and thanks to his feat, the rooster has the honor of waking up with his song to the sun every morning, just in case he falls asleep.