The Forerunner · Chapter
The Weather-Cock explained
A weather-cock complains to the wind about its monotonous and disruptive nature, but the wind silently laughs in response, highlighting the tension between stability and change.
What happens
A weather-cock complains to the wind about its monotonous and disruptive nature, but the wind silently laughs in response, highlighting the tension between stability and change.
Themes in this chapter
Illusion vs. Reality
The weather-cock believes in its own 'God-given stability,' but the wind's silent laughter suggests this stability is an illusion, as the weather-cock is inherently subject to the wind's influence.
Key passages
“How tedious and monotonous you are! Can you not blow any other way but in my face? You disturb my God-given stability.”
The weather-cock accuses the wind of being boring and repetitive, asking why it always blows directly at it, disrupting its perceived permanence.
The weather-cock's complaint reveals its frustration with the wind's constancy and its own vulnerability.
“And the wind did not answer. It only laughed in space.”
The wind remains silent, responding only with a laugh that echoes through the void.
The wind's non-verbal response underscores the futility of the weather-cock's complaint and the wind's indifference.